Leicestershire remain "optimistic" that they can win the race to sign former England paceman Matthew Hoggard.

County offered Hoggard a three-year deal last week after he was released by Yorkshire earlier this month.

As expected, other counties, most recently Essex and Sussex, have expressed an interest in signing the 32-year-old, while Lancashire and Durham are also believed to be monitoring the situation.

Leicestershire, though, are the only club who, so far, have made a firm move.

Apart from the offer of a three-year deal, the issue of the captaincy could help to entice Hoggard, who has stated that he had hoped to skipper Yorkshire at some stage before he left Headingley.

There is a vacancy at Grace Road with Boeta Dippenaar having decided not to return to Leicester, and I understand that the issue of leadership was discussed when Hoggard met Leicestershire chief executive David Smith and senior coach Tim Boon.

Both see the seamer as a key role model for young players at Grace Road, as well as someone who can take wickets for the club.

"We remain optimistic. If we could land Matthew then the squad would be stronger than it has been for a few years," said Smith.

"However, that doesn't mean we are abandoning our policy of playing young players."

If Hoggard signs for the Foxes, Smith believes he would give County the cutting edge the bowling attack currently lacks, backed by the medium pace accuracy of all-rounder Andrew McDonald.

"If Nadeem Malik was fit next season we could have him, Hoggard, McDonald and Claude Henderson, which would be as good an attack as any in the Second Division," said Smith. "We could rotate the younger bowlers – Nathan Buck, Harry Gurney, Sam Cliff, Alex Wyatt, Wayne White and Jigar Naik – to suit their development."

Australian writer and journalist Murray Hedgcock is the guest of the Leicestershire Cricket Society tomorrow.

The meeting, which is bound to look back on England's Ashes triumph at some stage, will be held in the Charles Palmer Suite starting at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, the Society's committee has decided that the money raised from the raffle on February 4, when former England captain Graham Gooch is the speaker, will be donated to the County Academy.