Stocky, intelligent and inspirational, Darren Gough seemed ‘the complete package’ when he made his debut for the England national team in 1994 against New Zealand. With an impressive 65 in the first innings with the bat and figures of 4/47 with the ball, the media began dubbing him ‘the next Botham’. This however, was quickly revoked after his form with the bat took a nose-dive. With the ball though, he was very successful and prized out wicket for his team on a regular basis.
He wasn’t blessed with a good height like some of the West Indian quicks but he was a patient customer and often watched and dissected the batsmen’s technique in his head before bowling at them. He was England’s first actual reverse swing bowler and changed his pace often to confuse batsmen. In combination with Andy Caddick, he found an able partner and it thus turned out to be a deadly bowling combination for England. Gough was a character who could inspire people to play according to their strengths and lift the performance of the entire team. He would often get the crowd behind the team and make things happen. The highlight of his career came in 2000-2001 when he helped England to four consecutive series wins. During this time, he also bagged the Man of the Series awards against West Indies and Sri Lanka. He succeeded in Pakistan as well but then took a hiding in the following summer against the mighty Aussies.
Gough announced his retirement from Test cricket in 2003 since a lingering knee injury threatened to end his career prematurely. By then he had already raked up 229 wickets at an average of 28.39. ODI cricket however, was still on his agenda and he continued playing in this form of the game. In September 2004, he became the first Englishman to take 200 wickets in ODI cricket. In 2006, he was omitted from the ODI squad which was to play India but then came back to the team to play against Pakistan. He went on to play two more ODIs and two T20I matches but then a recurrence of his knee injury forced him to withdraw from the team. That was effectively the end of his international career.
He continued playing county cricket though, and moved from Essex to Yorkshire where he formed a formidable duo with Matthew Hoggard. He was even named captain of the county side and under his captaincy, the team got off to a flier. In 2007, he suffered a broken hand but not before taking a very impressive 6/47. These were his best Yorkshire figures in about eleven years. He is now regarded as a fine professional of the game and a legend in Yorkshire colours.
