LONDON, England (Reuters) - British newspapers heaped praise on Matthew Hoggard yesterday after the fast bowler's hat-trick inspired England to their first Test series triumph in the Caribbean since 1968.
Hoggard triggered a West Indies collapse, which handed England an eight-wicket victory in the third Test on Saturday and an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the four-match series.
While The Mail on Sunday exclaimed ``We've done it at last,'' The Sunday Telegraph saluted Hoggard under the headline 'Hat-trick hero'.
Former England captain Michael Atherton summed up the mindset of the two teams in his Sunday Telegraph column.
``A series that threatened to be compellingly competitive has proved to be the most one-sided between these teams in a decade,'' Atherton said.
``England expected to win and just as importantly, with seven defeats in their last eight Tests, the West Indies look like a team who expect to be beaten.''
Writing in The Independent yesterday, former England paceman Angus Fraser highlighted how Hoggard finally made his mark in the series after being overshadowed by his fellow bowlers in the previous two Tests.
Hoggard claimed the scalps of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ryan Hinds with successive deliveries to reduce West Indies to 45 for five, which heralded England's victory inside three days.
``Before yesterday's remarkable event in Barbados, Matthew Hoggard had been the un-sexiest of England's quartet of fast bowlers,'' said Fraser.
``It is a lot to say that a player deserves a hat-trick but Hoggard's efforts in this series merited reward.''