Matthew Hoggard is "shocked and bitterly disappointed" after Yorkshire told him they will not offer him a new contract. Hoggard, Yorkshire's leading wicket-taker in this season's LV County Championship, finds the news hard to take after holding talks about the possibility of taking on the captaincy next season. The former England pace bowler told The Times: "I'm shocked and bitterly disappointed. I think I've been loyal to Yorkshire.
"I wanted to commit the rest of my career to the club and I would have relished the thought of captaincy, which I had discussed with (chairman) Colin Graves and (director of cricket) Martyn Moxon. "Now I have effectively been sacked and I'm not even going to play for Yorkshire again, which makes me incredibly sad." He continued: "What really upsets me is that I wasn't given the chance in my final game to say goodbye to the Yorkshire supporters, who have been so good to me over the years.
"Other players who knew they weren't going to be around next year were given a handshake and a send-off in front of the fans. "All I got after 15 years at the club was a cup of coffee in the chief executive's office." Yorkshire have cited financial reasons for their decision to release the 32-year-old. Meanwhile, the New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram is expected to announce his retirement from Test cricket this week but will continue to play shorter forms of the game.
Oram, 31, hoped to prolong his injury-plagued career by quitting tests to concentrate on Twenty20 and one-day internationals. He was forced to return home from the recent Champions Trophy limited-overs tournament in South Africa without playing because of a hamstring strain, the latest in a long series of injuries which has hampered his career. Oram scored five centuries and averaged 36 in 33 tests for New Zealand and took 60 test wickets at 33.05.
* PA Sport
