Neil Whitaker Interview
KYLE
KYLE Hogg celebrated his 27th birthday four days early as he scored his highest score for Lancashire, took his 100th First Class wicket for them and also shared in a ninth wicket partnership for Lancashire against Yorkshire at Old Trafford.
When Kyle came into bat on the third morning of the 251st Championship Roses match, Lancashire still needed another 44 runs to avoid the follow on. He replaced skipper Glen Chaplet who had tried to blast Lancashire past the follow on mark.
Kyle said: “It was very important to get beyond the follow on mark to try and take time out of the game. It was also nice to spend some time at the crease and make a contribution to the game.”
Kyle’s partner in the ninth wicket stand was wicket keeper Luke Sutton and Kyle said: “I’ve been involved in a few century partnerships with Luke and I enjoy batting with him. He knows what he is doing.” He added: “I think we complement each other quite well. He's very dogged and I think that sometimes frees me up at the other end. He's very calm, he keeps talking to me and he stops me slogging - sometimes! The situation brought the best out of us.”
The partnership was broken with Hogg 12 short of his first century for Lancashire when he mistimed a cut of Adil Rashid and was caught at extra cover by Richard Pyrah. Kyle and Sutton had put on 121 in 44 overs with Kyle as the dominant partner. “It was my 10th 50 for Lancashire. I think that was my best innings under the pressure. It was just a shame because that was the ball I was waiting for. I was so annoyed because I could have hit that anywhere and I whacked it straight to him. It was hard batting against him with men around the bat and pitching the ball in the rough. Any leg spinner that pitches it in the rough is going to cause you problems."
When Lancashire were dismissed Hogg hadn’t finished getting into the record books. When Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth pulled to Stephen Moore at fine leg he became Hogg’s 100th First Class victim for Lancashire, although he has taken wickets for two other counties when he went on loan to Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire in 2007. He didn’t know what he had achieved on that day until he was told. “I didn’t know that. When you’re finished you can look back on the records but at the time you just get on with playing. Any milestone is good to look back on and I try to do well every day and the records will look after themselves.”
Kyle, the grandson of the great Sonny Ramadhin who played for the West Indies and Lancashire in the fifties and sixties and the son of Willie Hogg, a paceman who played for Lancashire and Warwickshire in the seventies and eighties, still hasn’t been capped by Lancashire despite making his debut for them in 2001, but he was given his colours by Worcestershire when went on loan there. He said: "I've just got to keep doing well. A cap is what a lot of people at Lancashire play for and it would be a massive honour."
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