Darren Gough |
 |
Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Darren Gough has been playing for England since 1994. Darren Gough was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1999, the same year as his spectacular
hat-trick in the final test against Australia. He remains the linchpin of England’s strike force.
Rowland White, Darren Gough's editor, tells
penguin.co.uk why Dazzler was a key signing for Penguin. Plus,
Darren Gough reveals his dream XI.
Darren Gough is English cricket's man of the moment. He was named
man of the series against West Indies last year, Man of the series
against Sri Lanka this year and has just been awarded the Vodafone
Cricketer of the Year 2000. He needs only three more wickets this
summer to take 200 test wickets and join the list of only seven
England bowlers in the history of the game ever to have done so.
Gough is the best-loved English cricketer since Ian Botham in his
pomp. He's the crowd's favourite, not just for his sense of fun,
but for his never-say-die approach on the cricket pitch. He has
regularly been the man to take crucial wickets that can turn a game.
Darren Gough was a crucial and early signing for Michael Joseph
as we sought to establish our sports list. Every year many sports
autobiographies are published, but few are genuinely exciting, because
so few genuine characters still flourish at the highest level. Gough
is an exception; a sportsman, now rated in the top five fast bowlers
in the world, who evokes memories of characters the like of which
we no longer see in any sport.
We could acquire greater numbers of sports books, but we aim to
publish only those by the best. So Darren Gough joins British Lions
Rigby hero Jeremy Guscott, West Indian legend Viv
Richards and sailing sensation Ellen MacArthur on an exclusive
list and one we can feel proud of.
I'll leave it to the Daily Telegraph's cricket correspondent
Michael Henderson to describe Gough's place in English sport and
the reason the publication of his autobiography Dazzler is
such a mouth-watering prospect:
"Is there a, one wonders, a more popular - as opposed to famous
- sportsman in England? ... There is something Dickensian about
his spirit, in the way that people respond warmly to what they perceive,
rightly, as chivalry and a bigness of heart. In Pakistan and now
here [Sri Lanka] he has bowled with fire and ice, and England could
not have won either series without his wickets, and the example
he has set. He has filled out as a man and a cricketer, and he returns
to England a hero."
With series against Pakistan and then Australia this summer I can't
wait to see him in action again.
Darren Gough's Dream XI
Penguin.co.uk caught up with Darren to find out his dream team
and favourite cricket book of all time ...
1. Geoffrey Boycott (England)
2. Sunil Gavaskar (India)
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
4. Barry Richards (South Africa)
5. Viv Richards (West Indies)
6. Steve Waugh (Australia)
7. Ian Botham (England)
8. Shane Warne (Australia)
9. Dennis Lillee (Australia)
10. Malcom Marshall (West Indies)
11. Coutney Walsh (West Indies)
And Darren Gough's favourite cricket book of all time? It's got
to be Botham by Ian Botham
|
my cart |
