Gough: 'I was an easy target'

Darren Gough said he was an "easy target" after being left out from England's one-day squad to tour Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

"I'm bitterly disappointed," Gough told Sky Sports. "They've picked that many bowlers this summer they had to fit them in somewhere so they've shared them out and I was the easy target to miss out.

"In one-day cricket in the last game I was Man of the Match and I think a lot of people expected me to be still in the one-day squad because I'm still a good one-day bowler. I expected to be picked."

Gough went on to say that David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, told him that he was still in the reckoning for a place in the one-day side to play West Indies next spring - although Gough gave the impression of being unconvinced. "I asked him if that was the end for me but he said definitely not. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm not holding my breath.

"With all the bowlers they've picked this summer they've got themselves into something of a pickle and the older one is the one that misses out, it always is. They've gone for youth but that can be a dangerous game."

Gough went on to say that he had been boosted by the number of calls of support from colleagues. "They were saying they thought I'd have been picked and were surprised that I wasn't. I know the players are with me and they think I should have been picked - that's all that matters to me."