Matthew Hoggard has always been among the more eccentric cricketers, but few observers have minded his quirky behaviour because there has never been any doubting his energy, intelligence or desire to do well for his country.

If he wants to take imaginary walks with his dogs while he is on tour, then let him; if he has to get up from the dinner table and wander around for a while to ease his restlessness, then so be it. No one has ever had to question that his heart was in the right place.

So when Hoggard, in an epic first spell back in the national side after six months in the wilderness of 10-3-21-4, started celebrating his wickets by rocking his arms as though cradling a baby, it was quickly understood that he was trying to convey a message to his baby son Ernie, who was born in May, that he was still thinking of him even though he was several thousand miles away. The message was doubtless relayed.

But so thick and fast did the wickets come that Hoggard’s theatricals became shorter and shorter as he was mobbed ever more speedily by his delighted teammates.

By the time he had claimed a fourth wicket in as many overs, the task of dismissing Sri Lankan batsmen seemed so effortless that there was no shortage of awful puns about Kandy and babies.

What a comeback this was. Some pundits – notably Bob Willis, one of the five remaining bowlers to have taken more Test wickets for England than Hoggard – had advocated that Hoggard should be left at home for this tour. They thought others could do the job better. They could not. Hoggard’s figures of four for 29 from 14 overs were easily the best.

But Hoggard conceded last night that there was “immense” competition for places in the starting XI and he was grateful simply to have been given the nod. He’s never got above himself, our Matthew.

Nothing speaks so well of Hoggard’s energy and intelligence as his efforts in diverse and often difficult conditions overseas.

While it may be true that the conditions in Kandy yesterday had something in them for him, he still had to calibrate his game to exploit them. He had never played here before, having been left out of the match here four years ago. That incident really hurt, as he was left out for a like-for-like bowler, James Kirtley, and Hoggard returned home fearing for his future. He was, he admits, a nightmare to live with for the next couple of months – pity his wife, Sarah – but in fact that proved the start of his renaissance. He then played the next 40 Test matches in a row before the string of injuries that forced him to miss six Tests this year.

Many of Hoggard’s career-defining performances have come abroad. They include figures of seven for 63 in Christchurch, a hat-trick in Barbados, a staggeringly heroic 12-wicket solo effort to clinch victory in Johannesburg and nine wickets in thankless conditions in Adelaide.

Strikingly, his four-wicket burst here meant that Hoggard has taken as many wickets away as he has at home – 122 in each case – and his average is actually lower in overseas games, 28.6 as opposed to 30.7 on home soil. The 30-year-old Yorkshireman is the only one of England’s fast bowlers with more than 200 wickets who has proved more effective away than at home. And that includes Willis.

Hoggard’s explanation is the reasonable one that when there’s less help around, it becomes all the more important to do the basics well, and sticking the ball in the right spot is always a good place to start.

“It wasn’t ideal that the captain lost the toss, but we said it could be a good toss to lose,” he said last night.

“It would have been a brave captain to insert on that wicket. The ball moved about and nibbled a little bit. Thankfully we got the balls in the right areas and they managed to nick it rather than miss it.

“We knew it was going to swing early doors and there was a small opportunity to get the ball in the right areas and put the batsmen under pressure. It was nice to work in partnership with Ryan [Sidebottom]. I thought Jimmy [Anderson] bowled really and Monty [Panesar] was a blinder when he came on. There’s a lot of pressure when you’re the only spinner in the side. I think the four of us bowled really well as a team.

“We didn’t go at more than four an over and once we got the [sixth] wicket we squeezed tight and made sure we finished them off. We’ve had a pretty good day and hopefully we can pile on the runs tomorrow.”

Hoggard added that he didn’t rank this as the best new-ball spell he had bowled.

“It’s nice when the ball swings. Any bowler who swings the ball is in with a chance,” he added. “It was my lucky day. I rate other spells where the ball hasn’t really swung as better. We fielded well. We wanted to create an energy bubble around the Sri Lankan batsmen and it all stems from putting the ball in the right areas.

“The competition for places has been immense. I wouldn’t have liked to be a selector for the team that took the field today. There’s two good bowlers in the dressing-room” – a reference to Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad – “who wished they’d been out there, and thankfully I’ve managed to close my eyes, wang it down and get some wickets. Hopefully I’ll keep my place.”

Hoggard last played a Test for England against West Indies at Durham in June, after which he was sidelined with a back problem that kept him out of the series with India in which Anderson, Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett did so well.

He admitted that during his lay-off he had put on several pounds and needed to prepare for this tour with some intensive sessions in the gym to get himself trim again. Judging by the stamina he showed before lunch yesterday, all the hard work has paid off.

Earlier in the tour, when snakes made an appearance on the ground in Colombo during one of the warm-up matches, Hoggard had not been afraid to pick up one of them up by the tail.

But what he did here was a braver effort altogether.