Matthew Hoggard's burly frame and cropped-to-the-skull haircut may give him the appearance of a nightclub bouncer, but the only characters this basically shy young man is interested in bouncing are opposing batsmen.

And now that the 23-year-old strike bowler is playing for England for the first time, top batsmen from around the world are going to start taking more than a passing interest in this gentle giant.

Born in Leeds, but living in Pudsey for as long as he can remember, Hoggard is the latest Yorkshire player from this famous cricket breeding ground to make a name for himself.

Sir Leonard Hutton was Pudsey St Lawrence, Herbert Sutcliffe, the prince of cricket, learned his game with Pudsey Britannia, and Ray Illingworth has spent much of his life either batting, bowling or mowing the grass for neighbouring Farsley in between his many commitments at a higher level.

It is Pudsey Congs, however, who can claim Hoggard as their own, and he is a much different breed of cricketing animal to the other three who had the traditions of the game running strongly through their veins.

Not so Hoggard, who knows little of cricket's history but is no less enthusiastic or determined to succeed because of what some would see as a gap in his education.

How was he first introduced to cricket?

"I was about 11 years old at the time and one summer's day when I was bored and getting on my mum's nerves she told me to b...... off down to the cricket ground and get involved there," he said.

"So I did just that and from the start at Congs I was interested in bowling fast - it's the only way you can hit people on the head and get away with it!

"By the time I was 16 I was in the first team with Colin Chapman as captain and Phil Carrick as vice-captain and then I really started to develop.

"Carrick was the biggest help in building my career and it was a great shock and a tragedy when he died earlier this year.

"I am really sad that Fergie was not around on Thursday when I walked out with England at Lord's because he would have been as proud as Punch for me."

Hoggard played a couple of games for the Academy and also Yorkshire Seconds while still studying for his A levels at Pudsey Grangefield and he was selected for the England Under-19s tour of Zimbabwe in 1995-96 before making his first class debut for the White Rose county against South Africa A at Headingley in July, 1996.

A couple of years ago, Hoggard attracted the attention of South Africa's now disgraced skipper Hansie Cronje and fast bowler Allan Donald during a net session at Headingley and as a result he has spent the last two winters advancing his game with Free State.

Now Hoggard has captured 92 first class wickets for Yorkshire and 23 for Free State, giving him 115 at an average of 23.57 runs apiece.

The door has been opened on an England career perhaps sooner than he thought but don't expect him to change much if he goes on to become one of the country's most bruising fast bowlers.

Hoggard likes bowling simply because he likes bowling and he would rather think about his pet dog than the complexities of cricket which so fascinate many other people.

Indeed, under the section Opinions on Cricket in The Cricketers' Who's Who, Hoggard merely answers "No Comment".

It's refreshing to come across someone these days who just wants to let the ball do the talking.