Darren Gough

England|Bowler
Darren Gough
INTL CAREER: 1994 - 2006
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Full Name

Darren Gough

Born

September 18, 1970, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Yorkshire

Age

53y 183d

Nicknames

Rhino, Dazzler

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast medium

Playing Role

Bowler

Height

5ft 11in

Education

Priory Comprehensive

RELATIONS

(son)

Inspirer, extrovert, attack leader, and England's best strike bowler since Bob Willis and Ian Botham, Darren Gough grew from often-injured good to match-fit great, until a long-standing knee problem curtailed his Ashes campaign in 2002-03, heralding a premature end to his Test career the following summer.

However, he refused to concede his playing days were over and continued in England one-day colours, hanging grimly to a place until he was omitted from the 2007 World Cup squad. Not one for a quiet ending, after three years at Essex he returned to Yorkshire as captain on a two-year deal in 2007.

Gough was not blessed with the height of Curtly Ambrose or Glenn McGrath - and thus lacked a stock ball to match. He developed other means of claiming wickets by watching, experimenting and learning. In the process he became England's first and foremost exponent of reverse swing and a fine changer of pace.

A showman like Dominic Cork, with a softer side, Gough could inspire team-mates and crowds with a diving catch or some daring hitting as well. He had the right chemistry to cause spontaneous combustion, to make things happen and help others play above themselves.

Nobody contributed more to England's four series wins in a row in 2000 and 2000-01 than Gough, who was Player of the Series against West Indies and in Sri Lanka. Succeeding there and in Pakistan, the traditional graveyard of fast bowlers, was the final stage of his development, although even his self-confidence took a battering after England's failure to compete against Australia the following summer.

He injured his knee during a one-day series in New Zealand - it seemed trivial at the time, but mushroomed into a year of misdiagnosis and aborted comebacks. He was forced out of the Ashes tour and the 2003 World Cup, but somehow willed himself back to fitness in time for the English season that year. And though he was instrumental in England's NatWest Series victory, he was exposed in Test cricket, from which he retired after a heavy Lord's defeat against South Africa.

In January 2004, he parted company with Yorkshire after 15 years to head to Essex. He returned to the international stage later in the year but was largely a shadow of his former self.

Gough's ebullient personality discovered life after cricket, when he won the BBC talent contest Strictly Come Dancing. In 2021 he was appointed Yorkshire's director of cricket amid the fallout from Azeem Rafiq's allegations of institutional racism at the club.

Darren Gough Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests58951182165032296/429/9228.393.3051.61490
ODIs159156847062092355/445/4426.424.3936.01020
T20Is22414933/163/1616.337.1713.6000
FC248-44023232178557/28-27.153.1651.4-333
List A420-20665144575987/277/2724.174.1934.52170
T20s3232665830333/163/1625.157.4820.1000

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests5886188556512.57196743.46021029130
ODIs159873860946*12.4294764.3000435250
T20Is2-----------00
FC24832660460712117.31--120--510
List A42022575209272*13.94--02--730
T20s321852053715.76157130.570023420
Darren Gough

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Photos of Darren Gough

Darren Gough and Ottis Gibson look on from the balcony at Headingley
Darren Gough, Yorkshire's interim director of cricket
Darren Gough, Yorkshire's interim managing director of cricket, watches players warm up in Bristol
Ottis Gibson and Darren Gough flank Steve Patterson, Yorkshire's captain, at the club's media day
Darren Gough, interim managing director of Yorkshire Cricket, Sameen Rana, COO Lahore Qalandars, and Lord Patel, chair of Yorkshire CCC
Mark Wood listens to Darren Gough