The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `It was one of my best efforts'

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Saturday, Mar 04, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

`It was one of my best efforts'

Sports Reporter

Nagpur: With England in the ascendancy after two late wickets, Matthew Hoggard, wrecker-in-chief, was suitably cheerful at the press conference. In between banter and the odd raised eyebrow, he looked back at an interesting day's play.

"I think it was vital for us to get off to a good start, to bowl as many balls in the right areas as possible and dry up the runs. The ball was reverse swinging and we managed to get those wickets early."

When asked if he knew every time he had taken five in the past England had gone on to win, the Yorkshireman said, "That's the first I've heard of that, but I hope so. It's obviously hard work scoring runs quickly on this wicket. If you'd told us we would have them nine down, we'd have taken it. This is a flat track and reverse swing is the key. We'll just assess it at every interval in the next two days and see how it goes."

He had kind words for Monty Panesar. "Anybody's reaction after getting Tendulkar is worth watching, but the way he bowled showed years of experience. He did all we asked him to do. And it was nice for him to get a late wicket."

Recent addition?

The 29-year-old said overnight rain hadn't affected the track, though "maybe because it was muggy it helped with the reverse swing." Was reverse swing something he had added recently to his armoury? "I keep on saying I've always had reverse swing, but you need something reverse or conventional swing. If you're straight up and down, it's easy for the batsmen really."

Hoggard said the effort was "one of the best I've bowled" and placed it higher than his 12 for 205 at Johannesburg in January last year.

"That was a lot easier because the ball was swinging. To bowl 30 overs and give 57 runs on this flat track means I've been very consistent," Hoggard said.

He was happy, he said, to claim his mate V.V.S. Laxman, their association dating back to when they played in the Bradford league together. "Ah, we'll have a bit of a chuckle later."

Wasim Jaffer, who added just eight to his overnight 73, was India's voice at the press conference.

"If we hadn't lost those two wickets in the end we would have had the upper hand. Hopefully we'll score some runs tomorrow morning and it's important to bowl well in the second innings.

"It was important for us to bat big today and it was disappointing to lose those five wickets in the first session. Hoggard bowled really well, he put it in the right areas," said the Mumbai opener.

Pat for Panesar

What did he make of Panesar? "I think he bowled well and got the important wickets of Sachin and Kaif. He's just in his first Test, I think he did well."

On his dismissal, Jaffer said, "I saw the ball, thought it was a half-volley and went for it. I played a bad stroke.

"It's an honour to come back after all these years. It's been very tough to make a comeback. I will focus on consistency because I was dropped for lack of consistency."

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