da betsul： Quotes
Andrew Miller17-Dec-2004
Matthew Hoggard celebrates the second-ball dismissal of Graeme Smith this morning© Getty Images
Matthew Hoggard extolled the virtues of attritional cricket at the closeof the first day’s play at Port Elizabeth, after his wholehearted effortshad lifted England into a promising position on a less-than-responsivepitch. Hoggard, who gave his entire team a shot in the arm with thesecond-ball wicket of Graeme Smith, grabbed 3 for 41 in 15 overs, after England were asked to bowl first.Renowned as an anxious performer at times, Hoggard admitted that the earlystrike had settled his nerves nicely, but denied that the identity of hisvictim was of any great relevance. On South Africa’s last visit to Englandin 2003, Smith ended Nasser Hussain’s reign as captain with a magnificent277 at Edgbaston, before setting up a famous win at Lord’s with scores of259 and 85."Obviously it was nice to get the South African captain early," said anunderstated Hoggard, "especially after what he did to us in England lasttime. But it’s always nice to get anyone early, and it put us in theascendancy."Hoggard went on: "It was a good day of toil. Even when we were getting no wickets, South Africa were not allowed to get away. There was a workmanlike ethic from everybody out there." In particular, it took a sterling performance from Andrew Flintoff to keep England from melting away in the heat, and Hoggard was quick to praise his performance."It was a massive performance from Fred," said Hoggard, after Flintoff hadbroken through in the afternoon with the wickets of Jacques Rudolph andZander de Bruyn. "He’s come on in leaps and bounds this year, and hisperformance with the old ball brought us back into the game."South Africa’s hero was Rudolph, who was jolted out of his seat by Smith’sdismissal in the first over, but remained steadfast for more than four hoursto top-score with a hard-worked 93. "To be honest, I prefer coming inearly," said Rudolph. "I don’t enjoy sitting in the changing-room."He may have been unfazed by his early arrival, but Rudolph’s eventualexit, seven short of a deserved century, was a disappointment, as he lateradmitted he had been unsettled by a huge appeal for caught-behind fromFlintoff’s previous ball. "It affected me a little bit," said Rudolph,after he had flinched a rising delivery to the keeper. "I probably wasn’tas switched on to the ball that got me out. I shouldn’t have played thatshot, but I’ll have to learn from it."As for the state of the game, Rudolph admitted that it had not been SouthAfrica’s day, and blamed that on the inexperience in their side. "It wouldhave been nice to get 400," he admitted, but tomorrow we’ll be aiming for350, and then anything after that will be a bonus."Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Cricinfo.