Gough keen on England recall

Darren Gough remains convinced that he should still be in England's one-day side and is keen to make the World Cup side. "I still believe I can do a job," he told reporters. "I know my team-mates in the England side think I'm good enough to be there, but it's not up to them."

A serious threat to a dodgy knee forced Gough to retire from Test cricket three seasons ago but he was a part of England's one-day outfit in last summer's NatWest Series also featuring Australia and Bangladesh. The 35-year-old Essex fast bowler did not find a place in the England side for the tour to India after opting out of last winter's trip to Pakistan. But with England's bowlers struggling in India - they have lost all four one-day games so far - Gough remained confident of a recall.

"It's my 18th season and I'm looking forward to it as much as I did my first. I've really got a buzz for this season," he said. "It's up to me to go onto the field and perform [for Essex]. But it's up to the selectors whether they want to ignore me or whether they say 'Yes, he's still fit, he can still play, he deserves a chance'."

Gough conceded that it would be upto the selectors to decide if sticking to young bowlers was the policy or if falling back on his experience was an option. With 464 international wickets for England, Gough said the fire in him still burned as bright as ever.

Although he missed both of Essex's friendlies last week, sources said he is just building himself up ahead of the season. He should make his first appearance of the year in England next week, either in the pre-season match against Middlesex at home on Thursday, or the three-dayer against Loughborough starting on Saturday.