'Dazzler' WILL return to cricket

4:58pm Wednesday 8th October 2008

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You can bet your bottom dollar that we have not seen the last of Darren Gough on a cricket ground - whether it be club cricket near his Milton Keynes home, whether it be Twenty20 cricket for Yorkshire or whether it be in the glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL).

There is no doubt 'Dazzler' will shine again.

At just the right side of 38, the Yorkshire stalwart has called time on a first-class career, which has seen him give his heart and soul to the White Rose county, Essex and England.

Gough says retirement has not sunk in yet, less than three weeks after his last first-class game against Somerset at Scarborough.

"I don't think that I will realise what has happened until next pre-season when everything starts up again, when Yorkshire are off to Dubai or wherever," he confirmed. "That's when it will really kick in."

Gough recently revealed that formal talks over a contract in the IPL are on the agenda, but insists he will bide his time before deciding on a Twenty20 return to county cricket.

"I have not even thought about that yet," he continued. "The Twenty20 thing is something that has been mentioned.

"I could have signed to come back before the end of the season, but I want to see whether I am performing at a good enough standard of cricket to warrant playing again."

Gough ended his pro career mainly because he was not fit enough for first-class cricket. He only played eight Championship matches for Yorkshire in 2008.

He finished with 855 first-class wickets at 27.15 from 248 matches, while also claiming 598 one-day wickets at 24.17 from 420 matches.

A total of 229 of those first-class wickets came from 58 Test matches for England at an average of 28.39, while 235 of his one-day wickets came from 158 one-day internationals at 26.42.

The Barnsley-born bowler also took 33 wickets from 32 Twenty20 matches at 25.15.

Gough broke onto the international stage in the summer of 1994 when he made his one-day debut against New Zealand at Edgbaston and then his Test debut against the Kiwis at Old Trafford.

His international career was gathering pace, but took a turn for the worse when he picked up a knee injury during a one-day international on tour in New Zealand in 2002.

He called time on his Test career a year later, continued to play one-day cricket, but was never the same player following the knee problems in Dunedin.

He claimed the last wicket in a famous England Test-series victory over South Africa at his home ground, Headingley, before taking a hat-trick in an Ashes Test defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"Getting the last wicket at Headingley is something that I will remember forever, walking off in front of that full house," he continued.

"The Ashes at the SCG, beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan away, and beating the West Indies for the first time in a long time at home.

"If I have one regret, it is what could have been if it wasn't for my knee. I was at my peak. I just wish that it wouldn't have happened at that time.

"But to get nearly 500 wickets in all cricket for England, I can't stick my nose out at that. I think there is only 'Beefy' (Ian Botham) who has got more wickets than me. I am pretty proud of that."