Moores - Duo still have future

Pair reassured after missing out to Pattinson at Headingley

Last updated: 23rd July 2008

Matthew Hoggard Gloucester

Hoggard: Missed out

If they are bowling well and deserve to be picked then they should be in the frame.

Peter Moores
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Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison still have an England future.

That is the view of England coach Peter Moores, despite the Australian-raised bowler Darren Pattinson being selected ahead of the centrally-contracted duo for the Headingley Test against South Africa.

The pair have not had a look in since being axed after defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton four months ago.

But asked if he thought a line had been drawn on their England careers, Moores said: "No, I don't, because that would be a foolish thing to do.

"You've got two experienced bowlers out there who have played a lot for England and bowled very well in the past.

"If they are bowling well and deserve to be picked then they should be in the frame.

Good thing

"They are experienced players who are desperate to play again, which is great. That's a good thing."

The pair both have more than 200 Test victims, with 31-year-old Hoggard, England's sixth most successful bowler in Test history, just two shy of the 250 mark.

But despite the game being played on his home ground in Leeds, the Yorkshireman lost out to Pattinson when Ryan Sidebottom's back niggle deemed a fill-in necessary.

Pattinson, who went on to take 2-95 in South Africa's first innings, was picked after claiming 29 wickets in six first-class outings with Nottinghamshire.

Moores said: "Certainly there has been a lot of talk about Darren's bowling but for a lad on debut he did all right.

"It was a tough wicket to bowl on and we saw lots of people bowl out there and look pretty innocuous at times.

"To be fair to him he stuck to his guns and went at threes and got a couple of wickets like everybody else did - nobody really ripped it up."

Worked hard

He added: "He got in because he bowled really well for Notts and he has worked hard to get himself in.

"He earned his right to have a go and has played in what was a really tough Test match.

"Because we were light on runs, there was no pressure on the South Africans to score at any rate and they just sat in on a slow deck. It would be interesting if he would be viewed the same if he was a younger man or a more well-known name."