CRICKET: Big heart, big swing, big cheers for the big man Matt; HOGG IN THE LIMELIGHT: THE RAPID RISE OF ENGLAND'S NEW FAST BOWLING HERO.

Byline: Ian Botham 

MATTHEW Hoggard's 12-wicket demolition of South Africa will rightly take its place among the all-time great performances by an England bowler.

As a commentator you have to try and remain dispassionate, but this was an England win to make you stand up and cheer.

And I couldn't be happier for him because Hoggard has done it the hard way, coming up through the school of graft as the unsung hero of this England pace attack.

He's got a bigger heart than some of the lions you see in Africa's game reserves, and at the Wanderers on Monday he got some of the rewards for all the years of hard work.

Down the years, England have given the new ball to a few bowlers who couldn't swing a hammock, but Hoggard has become a reliable exponent of the art and he's become their Mr Consistent.

There is no secret recipe to his success - he was the most successful bowler at Johannesburg because he kept the ball pitched up and gave it a chance to swing.

And make no mistake: although there were cracks in the pitch, it was Hoggard's swing that did the damage because he forced the batsmen to play at nearly every delivery.

With the possible exception of Hoggard, England bowled poorly in the first innings because too many balls didn't threaten the stumps.

But they made spectacular amends by bowling out South Africa in two sessions, and although they have not dominated the series England's 2-1 lead does them justice because they were robbed in Durban.

They were the better side again in the fourth Test, although it took a stupendous performance from Hoggard to pull a 77-run win out of the fire.

Hoggard epitomised everything you look for in a fast bowler. He ran in with gusto, attacked the crease, kept his bowling arm high and extracted late movement at a lively pace.

When his action has been a little round-armed, the ball has tended to swing too early and the batsman can see the danger coming.

But when the right arm brushes his ear on the way through, as it did all day on Monday, the ball swings later in its flight path and batsmen are more susceptible to nicking catches either to the keeper or slip cordon.

It was a privilege to watch an England bowler at the peak of his powers. He took three wickets in his first spell, two when Michael Vaughan brought him back into the attack just before tea, another one just after the resumption and, fittingly, the winning wicket by dismissing last man Dale Steyn.

After taking the first six South African wickets, Hoggard was on such a roll I thought he might go on and take all 10.

Backed up by Steve Harmison's pace and Freddie Flintoff's aggression, England hunted as a pack and got their prey.

There was one lovely moment when Harmison misfielded a ball on the fine leg boundary off Hoggard's bowling, and the whole team just burst out laughing. That sense of togetherness is why this side will get even better.

England had a reality check in Cape Town where they played as if their New Year party was still going, but what a phenomenal response.

And when Hoggy grows old, he will look back on Jo'burg 2005 as a defining chapter in his life. Go ahead and fill your scrapbook, son, you deserve it. Hopefully you will add a few more England performances like this.

Understandably, Hoggard's feats have captured most of the headlines and plaudits, but I would also pay tribute to Marcus Trescothick's magnificent 180 which enabled England to attack South Africa's batsmen on the final afternoon.

I've given up telling Trescothick to move his feet more, and after that innings he can set them in concrete for all I care - when you strike the ball as cleanly as he did, footwork almost becomes obsolete.

It was an awesome innings, probably the best I've seen him play under the circumstances, and he paced it to perfection.

South Africa looked shell-shocked by their defeat, and I can't see them coming back from 2-1 down now after such a going-over from Hoggard.

And Vaughan, treated ludicrously over his comments about bad light at the Wanderers, is just five days' cricket away from adding another landmark series victory to his reign as captain.

Interview: MIKE WALTERS