Glamorgan Cricket: Michael Hogan to retire after testimonial
- Published
Glamorgan's Michael Hogan took 16 wickets in the 2021 One-Day Cup including the winning dismissal in the final
Veteran Glamorgan bowler Michael Hogan is to retire after his much-delayed testimonial season in 2022.
Hogan, 40, was initially granted the fund-raiser in 2020 before crowds were banned.
"I'm glad to be contributing to the club again this (coming) year," said Hogan of his 10th year with the county.
"Without trying to drop a bomb, this year will be the last... so hopefully we can go out with a bang and have a successful year on and off the field."
"I'm 41 and need to spend more time with my family, I've missed out on a lot with the kids, and It's probably the right time for me, and for the club to look to the future.
"I'm incredibly happy with my form, it's been nice to play at such a great club, but time moves on, there's always a replacement and hopefully someone else will have a successful 10 or 15 year career with Glamorgan."
Hogan was Glamorgan's top Championship wicket-taker in 2021 and took the last Durham wicket in the One-Day Cup final.
He played a leading part in Glamorgan's first trophy in 17 years, and has claimed 589 wickets in all formats while occasionally delighting supporters with some big hitting, batting at number eleven.
Family first
Hogan says it is time for his wife's legal career to take priority in the family.
"My wife has put her life on hold for the last 15 years while we've travelled around the world so maybe it's up to her what we do next. It's undecided whether it'll be in the UK or Australia.
"There's a few things I might try to set up in terms of a (cricket) academy but I probably need to separate myself from the professional environment, take a back seat and maybe even pick up a hobby or enjoy a bank holiday without worrying about playing," he joked.
The New South Wales-born seamer did not play first-class cricket until the age of 28, working as a groundsman, but eventually made the breakthrough with Western Australia and became the country's leading domestic wicket-taker over a five-year period.
Hogan joined Glamorgan in 2013 under coach Matthew Mott and took over the captaincy mid-season in 2017 when Jacques Rudolph resigned, retaining the job the following year.
Glamorgan director of cricket Mark Wallace paid tribute to one of the club's most consistent players of the last decade.
"The testimonial has been a long time coming and it's hugely well-deserved. The announcement it's going to be his last season is a disappointment to us because he's been such a good player but he certainly deserves to go out on his own terms," said Wallace, a former team-mate.
"He's been fantastic for Glamorgan and he's certainly in the conversation about Glamorgan's greatest-ever side. There've been very few players of his quality who haven't played international cricket and he's been a Glamorgan great."
Smiles on faces
Hogan hopes there will be no crowd restrictions in place next summer so that he can enjoy socialising with supporters again, as well as finishing his career strongly on the field.
"Hopefully we can continue with some of the good work we did last season, we were good in parts and then didn't finish the season well in red-ball cricket," he reflected.
"Back to the old (two-division Championship) format, it'll prove a challenge given some of the sides in the second division, Durham are quite strong and Notts will come back, but we should have a reasonable crack at it. T20 we need to improve, and it would be nice to follow up this year's 50 over competition with another one.
"Off the pitch it'll be nice to see people out and about, get the testimonial under way and catch up with friends and supporters that we haven't seen for 18 months. Any support will be appreciated but it'll be nice just to see some smiles on people's faces."
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?: Food for the mind, and inspiration for the soul
THE ASIAN WELSH: How immigration from the Indian subcontinent transformed Welsh health, culture and the economy
