Hoggard happy with injury return

Matthew Hoggard expects to be able to play for England in the fourth West Indies Test on Friday after bowling 10 "pain free" overs for Yorkshire.

The England seamer was playing his first match since suffering a groin injury in the first Test on 19 May.

Hoggard took 1-55 as Yorkshire scraped an unlikely one-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Northants in the Friends Provident Trophy match at Headingley.

He said: "The only issue is going into a Test without much match practice."
Providing there are no after-effects, the 30-year-old will take his place in the England side at the Riverside.

Now I'm an old head with a lot of experience, I think I can close my eyes and 'wang' it in roughly the right spot

Matthew Hoggard

"It was a good work-out and nice to get three spells, stopping and starting and making sure I could carry on," said Hoggard, who is due to make his 64th Test appearance at Chester-le-Street.

"That was as much of a test as anything. If you can get through 10 overs with three spells it means that it's fine.

"I can't feel it now, and if I wake up on Thursday and it's still pain free then there has been no reaction.

"It would have been nice to have a little bit more practice - but I want to play in the Test match.

"Now I'm an old head with a lot of experience, I think I can close my eyes and 'wang' it in roughly the right spot.

"I'm happy with the way it's coming out. It's not as if I've come back feeling like a bag of spanners; I've come back feeling quite good."
With Liam Plunkett dropped from the squad, James Anderson would make his first appearance of the summer if Hoggard is deemed unfit.

Hoggard's sole wicket on Wednesday saw him have Usman Afzaal caught at point after the left-hander had hit 132.

The previous delivery, a slow full toss, had been hit over deep mid-wicket for six.

Hoggard's first six overs were unspectacular but tidy with the new ball, and he returned with two more spells of two each.

Northants racked up 314-4 on a good wicket and Hoggard was more economical than most of the Yorkshire bowlers.

And he finished up on the winning side after heavy rain convinced the umpires to take the teams off the field just as Yorkshire sneaked in front on D/L, with 119-2 on the board from 21 overs.