MATTHEW Hoggard returns to the Yorkshire side against Sussex at Headingley on Wednesday for what could be his only Championship appearance of the season.

The England fast bowler will spearhead the attack with Australia's Jason Gillespie and the hope is that the pair will give it a sharper edge than it has had in the last two matches.

Hoggard has now enjoyed a well-earned break after his exertions in India but his stay with Yorkshire is only brief because after the Sussex match he sets up camp with England for the Test series against Sri Lanka which begins at Lord's next Thursday.

Although Yorkshire will be wanting to get as much as they can out of Hoggard they may have to settle for a steady rather spectacular performance.

His few weeks out of the game mean that he will be starting from scratch and his main aim will be to get rid of any rustiness in time for the Tests.

Last summer, Hoggard managed six Championship matches for Yorkshire before the Test series got underway and his 20 wickets cost him over 36 runs apiece which was quite expensive.

He did, however, go away fully prepared for the epic battles against Australia and as a centrally contracted player he knows where his priorities lie and cannot be blamed if he does not throw everything into his bowling for Yorkshire.

But with Deon Kruis out for at least another week with a torn calf muscle and Mitch Claydon still suffering from a side strain, Hoggard's return is particularly timely.

Yorkshire need to mark their first home Championship match of the season with a win after their opening game at Trent Bridge was wrecked by the weather and they then went on to lose by 66 runs to Warwickshire at Edgbaston after hitting 433 - the highest losing fourth innings score in the history of the Championship.

Yorkshire (v Sussex) from: Wood, Sayers, McGrath, Lumb, Lehmann, White, Brophy, Bresnan, Dawson, Gillespie, Hoggard, Blain.

Updated: 10:56 Tuesday, May 02, 2006