England’s tour of the Windies in 2004 saw the emergence of a bowling attack that would help deliver a golden run of six series wins in a row, culminating in the 2005 Ashes.
The ‘Fantastic Four’ of Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones took 58 wickets as England won a series in the Caribbean for the first time in 36 years.
For Hoggard, his selection for the Caribbean tour proved to be a watershed moment in his England career.
Fifteen years later the veteran of 67 Tests looks back on a momentous series.
“We toured Sri Lanka before the trip and I was dropped for James Kirtley, so I didn't think I was actually going.
“James had played in the last two Test matches and we were like-for-like bowlers, I thought he would go, so I was amazed to get there.”
However Michael Vaughan – in his first winter of captaincy – had earmarked Hoggard as a key component of England’s four-pronged seam attack.
“I vividly remember Michael Vaughan saying: ‘I want you on the shop floor, you're going to be sweeping up after Freddie (Flintoff) and Steve Harmison. They'll get all the headlines, they'll get all the glamour and you will be sweeping up, we just want control from you Hoggy’.”
Simon Jones was added to the squad, having recovered from the serious knee injury sustained in Brisbane 17 months earlier and he, along with Ashley Giles, completed England’s attack for the first Test in Jamaica.
Harmison takes 7 for 12
England held a 20-run first-innings lead as the Windies resumed on day four with all ten wickets intact. Twenty two overs later the game was over, Harmison taking an astonishing seven for 12 as the hosts crumbled to 47 all out.
“I think I was seventh slip! There was only two people in front of the bat and that was Nasser Hussain at short-leg and Steve Harmison, who was bowling. It was a full umbrella field and I was sh****g my pants thinking: Please don’t come to me!”
“You don't get seven for 12 in school games let alone Test matches! It was devastating, I can only think of Stuart Broad at Trent Bridge in 2015 and Curtly Ambrose against the Australians at Perth in 1993 as similar spells.”
Harmison unsurprisingly received the headlines, but Hoggard would take confidence from his own efforts at the other end, notching up five wickets in the match.
The prize scalp of Brian Lara – caught by Flintoff for a duck – proved particularly satisfying.
“I felt lucky to get on the tour, and in the side for Jamaica, so when I got Brian Lara out I thought: ‘Yeah I can do this’.”
Bowling as a unit
Harmison (6-61) and Jones (5-57) grabbed the headlines as England won by seven wickets in Trinidad. As far as Hoggard was concerned the tactical elements of England’s bowling success may have been overplayed:
“We had a lot of team meetings where they used to analyse every batter and come up with specific bowling plans.
“As a collective bowling unit we listened to the plans, and took them on board, but then we said: ‘We're all different, let’s bowl our best ball as individuals.’
“Because we all got along as good friends it really didn't matter who got the wickets.
“We began to feel secure in our places in the team, and because we liked each other there was no animosity. We enjoyed each other’s success.”
Barbados – the hat-trick
England moved to Barbados looking to take the series in front of a strong contingent of travelling fans. In the first innings Flintoff (5-58) delivered his best figures of the tour, leaving Hoggard as the one bowler without a stand-out performance.
“I’d bowled quite well but hadn’t got too many wickets at that stage.”
That changed eleven overs into his second innings as the Yorkshireman took a memorable hat-trick.
“I can remember Ronnie Sarwan playing a very loose shot to a wide half-volley, caught by Ashley Giles in the gully. Then [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul came in, who we knew could bat for a long time.
“I tried to swing it into him for a bowled or LBW and thankfully I did.
“Then in walked Ryan Hinds, another left hander! I thought: Brilliant, I'm going to run up and bowl another in-ducker and get him LBW or bowled.
“I ran up a bit giddy, with a bit of an adrenaline rush and lost my action. It didn't swing and I pushed it across him, he nicked it to Freddie at second slip!
“It wasn't the ball I wanted to bowl, but it was good enough.
“I ran straight for Freddie, Hussain under the lid tried to grab me but I ran straight past him!”
“The Windies capitulated to 94 all out, Hoggard the pick of the bowlers with four wickets and England romped to an eight-wicket win on day three.
Antigua – Watching Lara from the toilet
With England 3-0 up the series win was secure and history had been made.
However, the final Test was dominated by Brian Lara, who regained his world record with an extraordinary 400 not out in Antigua.
Hoggard’s role in proceedings was severely restricted due to illness: “I bowled in the morning session and three overs after lunch was throwing up on the boundary.
“Ashley Giles had the same bug a day earlier and missed the game so Gareth Batty replaced him as the spinner.
“Gareth went for 185 runs and he still blames me for 100 of those because he had to bowl my overs!”
The fourth Test was duly drawn, and Hoggard finished the 2004 series with 13 wickets at 25, second only to Man of the Series Harmison – who took a remarkable 23 at 14. Flintoff and Jones managed 11 each.
Vaughan’s England left the Caribbean with the Wisden Trophy for the first time since 1968.
In Harmison, Hoggard, Jones and Flintoff they also had a pace bowling attack to be very excited about.
The ‘Fantastic Four’ were up and running.