Darren Gough recognised with MBE in Queen's birthday honours

Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler, has been awarded an MBE for services to cricket and charity in the Queen's birthday honours list.

Gough, 50, took 229 wickets in 58 Tests for England between 1994 and 2003, as well as playing 159 ODIs and two T20Is. He represented Yorkshire and Essex in county cricket, before retiring in 2008 and moving into a career in broadcasting. He currently hosts a radio show on talkSPORT.

A Level 3 qualified coach, Gough was used as a bowling consultant by England on their tour of New Zealand last year, and was credited with helping the likes of Chris Woakes make better use of the Kookaburra ball.

He has also dedicated much of his time to raising money for charity, in particular wildlife and conservation efforts. Earlier this year, he donated memorabilia to an auction for the Centre for Disaster Philanthropy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Queen's birthday honours are usually announced in June, but this year were held back in order to recognise the efforts of those helping to deal with the coronavirus.