Gough plays down rumours

Injured strike bowler Darren Gough denied on Thursday newspaper reports that he had been forced by the England management to play in Yorkshi...

Injured strike bowler Darren Gough denied on Thursday newspaper reports that he had been forced by the England management to play in Yorkshire’s county championship match against Lancashire against his wishes.

Gough withdrew from the England team for the first Test against India which started at Lord’s on Thursday after he hurt his right knee again in the Roses match. He has been ruled out of the first two Tests of the four-Test series.

“Despite what has been written in some newspapers, I have not had a row with the England team management about my knee injury, neither was I forced to play in the Roses match against my wishes,” Gough said in a statement released through the England and Wales Cricket Board. “It’s an absolute nonsense to suggest that my knee injury has been misdiagnosed or that I was rushed into the Roses match ahead of schedule.” Gough, 31, hurt the knee in New Zealand in March and missed the just-concluded three-Test series against Sri Lanka, although he returned for the one-day triangular series with India and Sri Lanka.

“People have to bear in mind that Darren Gough hasn’t played in a first-class game for nearly a year now and you can’t risk him in a Test match,” England captain Nasser Hussain told a news conference on Wednesday.

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