The quintessential barking-mad Yorkshire cricketer, 'Hoggy's' record-breaking bowling exploits for England allied to his humorous, uniquely oddball yet hugely endearing attitude to sport and life makes this essential reading for all lovers of the game.
Matthew Hoggard is the sort of character you find in war films: dependable, dog-loving, salt of the earth and very British. Ask most real English cricket lovers who their favourite player is, and most would say not Freddie Flintoff, not Kevin Pietersen and not Michael Vaughan, but Matthew Hoggard.

He was always seen as the honest trundler who eschewed the trappings of modern sports celebrity. But then came the 2005 Ashes series and his transformation from willing workhorse to England spearhead bowler. Since that epic summer he has taken more wickets, more often and more cheaply, than his feted team-mates and was only recently ranked fifth among current world Test bowlers.

Much like the way he plays the game, Hoggy's book is a laid-back and eccentric, heartwarming yet totally barmy journey through cricket and beyond. If you're looking for a measured chronological account of a typical cricketer's career, then look away now. Imaginary walks with his dogs Billy and Molly while on tour; leaving the dinner table to wander among the hedgerows; a pub legend, with a special brand of beer named after his batting exploits (Marston's Nightwatchman Bitter); accosting venemous snakes on the boundary fence; impersonations of his baby son Ernie while patrolling the outfield...there is no other current English sportsman to compare with Hoggy.