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CRICKET ROADSHOWS

Week 6 Review - 15 Jun, Old Trafford Gough banks on NatWest

England fast bowler Darren Gough has targeted the opening match of the NatWest one-day series for his international comeback.

Gough, 31, has been out of action since damaging a knee during the winter one-day series in New Zealand but in an exclusive interview with Channel 4's Cricket Roadshow he revealed his convalescence was ahead of schedule following a week of intensive training in Lanzarote.

"I've been given the all-clear to step up the training on it, although obviously I've not been doing anything weight bearing on it," said Gough. "I've been cycling, rowing and I've started running on it these last few days and it's been hard work but the NatWest series might be a realistic target."

When pushed for a more specific date Gough replied: "I would love to say the first one-day international."

His absence from the Test team throughout the winter has opened the door for Matthew Hoggard and Alex Tudor to stake their claims but Gough said his hunger for the battle remains undiminished.

"I do miss it yeah, surprisingly, I do miss it a lot. I wanted this winter off, I'm really glad I did it and I wouldn't swap it for the world, but now I've been out for so long. The last 17 weeks I've just been wanting to get back out on a cricket field and play cricket and it's given me that kind of hunger now to want to keep playing and know how much I've missed it by not playing," said the Yorkshire strike bowler.

And now he believes he could be just a fortnight away from a return to compeitive action thanks to a detailed recuperation schedule laid out by the ECB.

"They sent me off to Lanzarote and I did a week's training out there with a fitness trainer," explained Gough. "We had a couple of nights out but we trained pretty hard three times a day and I think that's helped me come on a lot.

"Realistically I was looking at another four weeks from now to be fit but that week away training three times a day with no distractions has probably brought me forward a couple of weeks and it's been a benefit to me and hopefully for Yorkshire and England."

Not that he's taking anything for granted, especially after an earlier comeback was delayed by complications to his recovery.

"I think the way everything's panned out, to be honest, it all depends how I go in these next three or four days and if I can progress to bowling off half my run up by the end of the week. You do improve quickly when you come back from this injury once you start running so we'll have to see how it goes this next week."

And Gough, who could have had 30 more Test caps had he been injury free throughout his career, refused to be dispirited by his latest absenteeism.

"I've been very lucky to represent my country in 56 Test matches and 105 one-day internationals, so I consider myself to be lucky. A lot of people would give their right arm to play one. It just gives me that edge to come back," he said.

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