Darren Gough: England’s pace spearhead of the 1990s

Darren Gough, the right-arm fast bowler, and a right-handed batsman was a former English cricketer. He was born on 18^th September 1970 in Monk Bretton, Yorkshire England. Bough was bulky and broad, so he was not of a typical fast bowler. He often became the target of critics for his lack of fitness and ability to do fast bowling.

He slapped all his critics by becoming one of the most successful bowlers in the history of England cricketing. Actually, it was Richie Richardson, who suggested him to bowl around his strength rather than to concentrate on the comments of critics. He started showing his performance; it helped him to take his place in the national team in 1993.

Start of career

Bough started playing at an early age of 19 for Yorkshire, a county club in England. He was the bowler who had the talent to swing deliveries in both directions. He made his ODI debut in 1994 playing against New Zealand, and he claimed two wickets just by giving 36 runs in 11 over. England won the match by 42 runs. He made his Test debut in June 2004, when he was given a chance to play against New Zealand in the 3rd test match.

His performance in the first inning was up to mark. He scored 65 runs off 126 balls. He also proved his bowling ability by taking 4 wickets in 16.3 overs. In the second inning, he took 2 wickets in 31.2 overs. He made his T20 debut playing against Australia in June 2005. His performance was excellent, he took 3 wickets in 3 overs and established himself as a versatile player.

Retirement plans

Gough decided to retire from Test cricket in 2003 after a knee injury, which had become a threat to his career. He had 229 wickets with a bowling average of 28.39 to his credit. Darren continued playing one-day international cricket. He was the first cricketer of England to take 200 wickets in one-day cricket in September 2004. Gough refused to tour Pakistan in October- December 2005, as he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Darren Gough was of the view that his career in cricket was at an end. But to his surprise, his name was added in the squad to play one day international in Pakistan in August 2006. He played two ODIs and one T20 he was again forced to withdraw himself from the team because of his shin injury. It was the end of his international career.

His tenure as a captain

Gough continued playing county cricket for Yorkshire. He captained the Yorkshire team for the 2007 season against Surrey, Durham and Worcestershire and had 3 convincing Championship wins. He suffered a broken hand in June 2007, and thus he ended his cricket career.

After his retirement, he became the brand ambassador for Collier’s Powerful Welsh cheddar in 2010 and made a number of appearances at the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich. He also became a supporter of the Conservative Party. He was even offered a ticket to fight in elections but he refused to take the offer.

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