Our true hero

By Contestant no 5
June 10 2007

During the Ashes series of 2005 the television company providing coverage would run a ‘Cricket Roadshow’ which invariably involved a group of well known cricketers asking a group of children a series of extremely contrived and pointless questions under the guise of bringing cricket to the youth.

Reading a recent newspaper article I was reminded of this as the article was talking about heroes and role models in the light of the Fredalo incident. 

During the final match of the Ashes series I had the pleasure (and oh what a pleasure it was!) of watching the cricket with an Aussie.  After years of hurt the tables had turned and I was able to lord it over him (albeit until the return leg!  Why couldn’t we have had a four year gap to let me crow for a bit longer?!?).  One incident stuck in my mind though and it came from the Cricket Roadshow.  A number of youngsters were asked who their favourite cricketers were and why.  Inevitably the vast majority answered “Freddie”, “Pietersen” or “Warne”, the usual suspects, the eye catching, spectacular crowd pleasing cricketers.  One small child however will forever stick in my mind for the answer he gave.  He can’t have been more than 8 years old and when asked he said rather quietly and almost apologetically “Hoggard”.  When asked why the Hog was his favourite cricketer his reply was “Because he always looks like he’s tried really really hard”.  At this my Aussie mate cracked out laughing and launched into a tirade about how that was typically Pommie.  This kid could have picked Pietersen, Warne, Flintoff, Ponting, Harmison, Lee and he went for Hoggard “because he tries hard”.   

At the time this really irritated me as a Yorkshireman I’m always protective of ‘my own’ and I also feel Hoggy is a damn fine bowler who doesn’t always get the credit he deserves.  We engaged in a long argument about the virtues of Hoggy, I extolled the virtues of patience, the need for a consistent foil to the extreme pace at the other end, his crucial ability to swing the new ball and take early wickets and his selflessness in always taking the ‘wrong end’.  My Aussie mate preferred to concentrate on negatives and felt Hoggy was not a top level international cricketer due to his lack of pace and up and down style of bowling (I did point out these characteristics had not done Glenn McGrath any harm which took the argument in a whole different direction).  My Aussie mate refused to acknowledge I had won the argument and continued to laugh that the small child had chosen Hoggy ‘because he tries hard’. 

The argument was forgotten, we won the test match and I have endured a huge amount of ridicule during the past winter for the English performances.  My Hoggy argument was forgotten however until a couple of days after the Fredalo incident.  Much of the criticism directed towards Freddie (in my opinion quite rightly) in the wake of his drunken antics has concerned his position as a national icon and in particular as a role model to the future generations of English cricketer.  The young idolise him, look up to him and want to be like him, it has been said, and many would want to copy his every action.  This would appear to be confirmed from the Cricket Roadshow where 9 times out of 10 Freddie was every child’s favourite cricketer.  I don’t for one minute believe that because Freddie got drunk on a pedalo hoards of 9 and 10 year olds will be rushing out to find the nearest pedalo along with 5 litres of cheap cider to get the party started, pedalos are difficult to find during the English winter after all, but Freddie does have a responsibility as he is the young boys idol.  All except one it would appear as my mind turns back to the small boy whose favourite cricketer was our very own Hoggy. 

Hoggy is a fantastic cricketer who has worked his hardest to get the most out of his (not insubstantial) talent.  He is one of the first names on the team sheet for every test match.  He has turned himself into a cricketer respected the world over.  For me though the enduring image of Hoggy will be one from the sub continent.  Its hot, very hot and very humid, the wicket is as flat as a pancake and the batsmen are the Indian masters, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag et al.  Hoggy charges in over after over, plugging away, bowling his heart out, giving every ounce of energy to the cause and the greatest thing is he always has a smile on his face.  He is genuinely proud to represent his country and will give blood, sweat and tears to do his best for the team.  Appreciated by his team mates and respected by the opposition he eventually got his rewards by way of wickets.  For me it was an absolutely heroic performance. 

Which brings me back to the young boy whose favourite cricketer was Matthew Hoggard and my Aussie mate who laughed that he hadn’t chosen Freddie or Brett Lee or Warney.  All are fantastic cricketers, all deserve to be applauded and all play the game in the right spirit but could anyone ask for a better idol than Hoggy?  Someone who has made the best of his ability, is down to earth, would quite happily run through a brick wall for his country and puts in heroic performances on a regular basis.  Hoggy may not be a headline grabber, he may not be flash, he may not get the recognition he deserves but he is a fine cricketer and does always ‘try his best’, for me that isn’t something to be ashamed of but something to be admired.  And to my Aussie mate, you can laugh at the young boy whose favourite cricketer is the Hog but if our youngsters grow up admiring and mirroring the work ethic of Hoggy the future of English cricket is extremely bright!