'You can't rest on your laurels' - Hoggard

Matthew Hoggard, the England fast bowler, is hoping he can bounce back from the injury lay-off that saw him miss most of the home Tests this year. Hoggard is currently with England's Test team in Sri Lanka and won't have great memories of the island, having being dropped from the team on their last tour in 2003.

"Being replaced by a like-for-like bowler means you are not doing your job properly or they think the other bowler is going to perform better than you," Hoggard told the website Sporting Life. "So it was a very hard time for me last time.

"I left here and the next tour was the West Indies and I had to wait a month before selection. James Kirtley came in and played the last two Test matches in Sri Lanka, I didn't play, so I thought there was every opportunity for him to get selected and not me," he said. "Fortunately for me, I got selected and I was fortunate enough to play ever since, for that long stretch."

Hoggard was confident, though, of a better showing this time around. "There is a lot of water passed under the bridge since then, I have played a lot more Test match cricket, been back to different parts of the subcontinent and I feel I have grown as a bowler and confident I can perform in Sri Lanka."

With Steve Harmison also likely to make a comeback after injury, England will have plenty of options to choose from, with Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson and Stuart Broad having impressed in the past few months.

"If you look at the quality of bowlers we have got it is going to be a very difficult selection for [captain] Michael Vaughan and the decision-makers," said Hoggard. "Thankfully I don't have to make that decision, and all I can do is keep on trying hard in the nets and push my name forward.

"You need to prove yourself every time you bowl, you can't just rest on your laurels," Hoggard said. "You have to keep on improving and keep on performing; with the set of young bowlers we have got everybody is under pressure. If they don't then hopefully there is someone to come in from the wings. That's a useful place for English cricket to be in."

Hoggard made a significant contribution with the bat in the only Test he played on the last tour, when he and Ashley Giles saw out 19 balls as England saved the first Test with one wicket remaining.

Hoggard admitted it was tough facing Muttiah Muralitharan, who might still be in the hunt to break Shane Warne's record for most Test wickets during the series. "I won't lie, it's quite tough," Hoggard said. "I can't pick him, to be honest, I have no idea which way he turns the ball when he wangs it down at you, so my game plan was to get as far forward as possible and play the line rather than which way it was turning.

"Because you have got the fielders in close and everyone is jabbering at you, it is just one mistake and you're out."

England play the Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI in a three-day game starting on Tuesday.