CRICKET : Leicestershire have won the battle to sign former England seamer Matthew Hoggard, agreeing a three-year deal with the 32-year-old – who will also become the county’s new captain.
Leicestershire have won the battle to sign former England seamer Matthew Hoggard, agreeing a three-year deal with the 32-year-old – who will also become the county’s new captain.
The 2005 Ashes winner, who lost his Test place and his England and Wales Cricket Board central contract last year, was surprisingly released by his native Yorkshire despite being the club’s top wicket-taker last season.
Hoggard spearheaded the White Rose’s successful battle against relegation from Division One of the LV County Championship with 43 wickets but will now drop down to the second tier himself, with the Foxes desperate to improve on their bottom-placed finish in the 2009 campaign.
Leicestershire showed Hoggard around the club’s facilities at the end of last week in a bid to fight off competition from Sussex, who had themselves offered Hoggard a three-year deal.
