Matthew Hoggard leaves Yorkshire

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The Yorkshire County Cricket Club have held lengthy discussions over the past few months with Matthew Hoggard before informing him last Thursday that they would not be offering him a new contract for the 2010 season.

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club have held lengthy discussions over the past few months with Matthew Hoggard before informing him last Thursday that they would not be offering him a new contract for the 2010 season.

The Club is extremely disappointed that Matthew broke the news to this morning’s edition of The Times newspaper. The Club has every respect for Matthew Hoggard as a player and as a person and had been working over the weekend with Matthew’s representatives at the Professional Cricketers’ Association to ensure the news broke at a mutually agreeable time, thereby assisting his transition to a new county in the most positive manner possible.

An extremely competitive two-year contract, with the option of a third year based on performance, was offered to Matthew Hoggard at the beginning of the season; a deal that would have retained his position as one of the highest earners at the county. Matthew turned that contract offer down as he wanted a higher salary and a longer contract.

The Club and player agreed that they would review the situation after the season had ended. Over the course of the summer the Club has reviewed its playing staff for 2010 and made plans to secure a number of key players. This has become increasingly costly due to the tightening of work permit regulations for overseas players and the demand for young England qualified talent.

On 23rd September the Yorkshire Board of Directors met to review outstanding contractual matters. Following this meeting the Club’s Chief Executive, Stewart Regan , was asked to review the 2010 playing budget with Martyn Moxon , Director of Professional Cricket. As a result of this review, Matthew Hoggard’s appraisal was postponed until Thursday 8th October.

At the meeting last Thursday, Matthew Hoggard was informed that the Board had made the decision not to offer him a new contract. This decision had been made in light of a number of factors – the current economic climate, the player’s contractual requirements and a detailed analysis of the makeup of the professional squad for the 2010 season.

It was suggested in this morning’s Times newspaper that Matthew had been holding talks about the possibility of becoming Yorkshire captain next season. This was something that Matthew had personally tabled with Colin Graves , the Chairman of Yorkshire CCC. Colin informed Matthew that he would feed his request into the next Board meeting, but at no stage was Matthew ever offered the position of Yorkshire captain.

Martyn Moxon , Director of Professional Cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: “I would like to thank Hoggy for his contribution to the team during my time here at Yorkshire . He always gave 100% and his presence in the team has dug us out of a hole on more than one occasion. I know he will continue to give his all and I wish him every success in the future.”

Stewart Regan , Yorkshire ’s Chief Executive, said: “Matthew Hoggard’s bowling statistics speak for themselves and he has been one of the country’s top bowlers during his time at the Club. On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to thank him for his outstanding contribution to the game of cricket for both Yorkshire and England and wish him and his family all the very best going forward.”