Why Yorkshire Were Correct To Release Matthew Hoggard

Former England Skipper Michael Vaughan told the BBC in an interview yesterday that Yorkshire County Cricket Club should have done more to hold on to pace bowler, Matthew Hoggard.

In an ideal World Hoggard, who was born and raised in God's own county, would have signed a new contract and stayed with the White Rose until the end of his career.

But this is not an ideal World, and the club has made the correct decision and with the benefit of hindsight, Yorkshire fans and those involved in the game will see that.

In the short term, mainly next season, the loss of Hoggard will be noticeable. In his time at Headingley Carnegie the 32-year-old took more than 600 wickets and was prolific with the new ball.

But with the arrival of Yorkshire's new overseas bowler Ryan Harris, the county has found a player who is capable of taking wickets in all forms of the game. Hoggard never really showed his quality in Twenty 20, unlike Harris who has IPL experience.

In the long term, Yorkshire have an excellent crop of young players coming through the ranks such as Ajmal Shahzad, Steven Patterson, James Lee, Lee Hodgson to name a few. All of these are chomping at the bit to play regular first-class cricket.

All of them together would equal the same pay as what Hoggard was demanding, but the benefits for the future are far greater.

Hoggard will be a very good signing for someone and will take plenty of wickets next season, which will be Yorkshire's loss and in the short term this does look a bad decision.

People like Vaughan don't look at the bigger picture, which is much brighter for his former club now that he and his friend Hoggard are off the books.

Yorkshire is better off in terms of finances, youth production and future success.