Lancashire: Test hero Gough set to turn Roses villain (7 Jul 1998)

7 July 1998

Test hero Gough set to turn Roses villain

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph

TEST hero Darren Gough turns Roses villain at Old Trafford tomorrow.

The popular all rounder, who played a crucial role with Robert Croft in England's battling rearguard action against South Africa yesterday, returns with Yorkshire for a NatWest Trophy second round tie.

A crowd of 2,000 were cheering every ball Gough survived last night. But those cheers will turn to jeers when he charges in to bowl at England team mate Mike Atherton.

Lancashire are hoping for a crowd of around 8,000 for the fourth Roses cup tie in three years.

Yorkshire still have bitter memories of 1996, when they were beaten at Old Trafford in the semi finals of both the NatWest and the Benson and Hedges Cup - especially the B and H, when a brilliant innings from Warren Hegg allowed Peter Martin to snatch a Lancashire victory with two off the last ball. They took some revenge last year by beating Lancashire in the qualifying group for the B and H, but after losing a seventh consecutive semi final against Essex, still feel they have unfinished business to settle.

They will be without all-rounder Craig White, who has a back injury. But they still field a formidable side with Gough, joining highly-rated young pacemen Chris Silverwood and Paul Hutchinson, and Aussie Darren Lehmann joining skipper David Byas as the big threats with the bat.

Lancashire have injury worries over Neil Fairbrother (calf) and Hegg (thumb), so John Crawley is again on stand by to keep wicket.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has insisted he would not consider leading the team again.

It had been reported that Akram was being considered for the job he lost last year over match-fixing allegations.

"I have had my stint and enjoyed it to the hilt and now I want someone else to take the gauntlet," he said.

Akram, 32, lost the captaincy over match-fixing and betting allegations following the national team's poor performance at Sharjah in a four-nation tournament in December.

There was no suggestion that Akram was involved in the alleged fixing and he was allowed to play for Pakistan in South Africa after being cleared.

Source :: Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)