Hoggard back to face in-form Dutch

By Paul Bolton

Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard will return to action in the Clydesdale Bank 40 group match against Holland at Grace Road on Bank Holiday Monday.

Hoggard missed last week’s LV= County Championship draw with Glamorgan in Cardiff because he was suffering from flu but he has recovered from the illness and will lead the county against the in-form Dutch.

Leicestershire also hope that opening batsman Matthew Boyce will have recovered from a back injury in time to face Holland who have beaten Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Lancashire and Essex in an impressive start to their CB40 campaign.

In fact Holland’s only defeat in the competition came at home to Middlesex last month and they have emerged as surprise strong contenders to progress to the semi-finals in what some counties would like to be their last season in the competition.

Holland have decided that the best way to retain an involvement in a county competition is by proving their worth by beating county sides. They have even offered to concede home advantage, possibly by finding a ground in England to host their ‘home’ games to help reduce travel costs for counties.

But that is very much a last resort for the Dutch who would prefer to use the expanding number of club grounds in Holland that have developed turf pitches to help encourage the development of cricket on the other side of the North Sea.


Date: 03/06/2012 21:05:19 by Paul Bolton
In: Today | Leicestershire |