Nicknamed 'Dazzler', Darren Gough is one of the first names on the England teamsheet. His never-say-die attitude has made him a firm favourite with both team mates and fans.
At his best he is a bowler of genuine pace and hostility - as his hat-trick against Australia in the final test of the 1998-99 series testifies.
While he remains England's most consistent strike bowler it's his evident enjoyment of the game and lust for life, in an era when sports stars seem to have become increasingly dour, that mark him out.
It has not always been the best times for either Yorkshire or England. From ‘Guzzler’ to ‘Dazzler’, I have tried to give my story straight, with little soft-soaping. Soft-soaping is not my style. In any competitive environment there are bound to be a few harsh words and actions along the way. Such incidents are all part of the story. I have not glossed over them. In some cases I have been the offender; in others, I have not been at fault and have not been afraid to point the finger of blame.
This has been a time of dramatic change in English cricket.Some sections of the England set-up wanted success first, so as to justify the new structure. It did not work that way. It was never going to work that way. I’m convinced that it took Lord MacLaurin longer to get things moving than he had anticipated. I am equally sure that without him England cricket would still be whistling in the wind. By the summer of 2000 many changes were in place: central contracts, two divisions and the new international schedule. Lo and behold, England enjoyed a vintage season, winning two Test series – against Zimbabwe and the West Indies – and the new triangular tournament. Do not tell me that the two are not related. England finished the year in style with a first win in Pakistan for 39 years.
Getting England off the bottom of the Test pile had been a battle, both on and off the field. The more interesting and significant battles are recounted here. I have described events as honestly and fairly as I can from a player’s viewpoint. We tahe the brunt of the fame and the shame for what happens on the field. I may smile a lot and seem happy but there have been plenty of bad days. I have struggled to hold down a first-team spot at Yorkshire for several seasons. ‘Gough the Scoff’ burst onto the international scene in 1994, but my England career was interrupted repeatedly because of injuries and lack of fitness or form. At one stage I had missed as many Tests as I had played.
I have never given up or lost hope, never thought for a second that my England career was over. That is the way I have always played my cricket. That is the reason I have enjoyed such a great rapport with cricket fans all over the country and around the world. The simple truth is, I love playing cricket, especially when the result of a Test Match rests on one wicket, one catch or a few runs – as it did at Lord’s against the West Indies in 2000. That is why there is always a smile on my face, even in the heat of battle. I would not have swapped one second of my cricket career. The highs are so much more enjoyable because I have known periods of doubt and despair. I have never found cricket a chore. I may often have moaned about tour itineraries, England fees and officials’ insensitivity to our needs, but I am not one for keeping quiet if I feel there is an injustice. Not for one second, though, have any of those disputes affected my commitment to England’s cause. By the time that cricket decides it has had enough of me, or vice versa, I want to have been the eighth Englishman to take 200 Test wickets. That is only natural. We all love the personal-glory bit. Yet I would swap it all – the congratulations from Harold Larwood and Ray Lindwall in Sydney on the 1994/5 Ashes trip, beating the Aussies at Edgbaston (’97) and Melbourne (’98), the Sydney hat-trick, sealing England’s first major-series win for 12 years against South Africa, hitting the winning runs at Centurion Park, batting with Corkie when we won at Lord’s, destroying the West Indies in two days on my home ground of Headingley and those 2000/1 wins in Karachi and Kandy – to be part of an England team that wins the Ashes. That’s how much playing for England’s cricket team means to me. I hope you enjoy reading about my career half as much as I have enjoyed taking part.
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
‘The heartbeat of the England team.’ —David Lloyd
England have now won the last three test series back-to-back: Zimbabwe, the West Indians,
and most recently, Pakistan. It is no coincidence that Darren Gough has been the key strike
bowler in every single one of those games; he was named England’s Man of the Series in their
win over the West Indies. And now, after Pakistan, and with a new Ashes series looming, the
England cricket team’s profile is the highest it’s been for a decade.
Without doubt, he is the most popular England cricketer since the heyday of Ian Botham. A
hostile bowler of genuine pace, the Yorkshire and England fastman is one of the first names on
the sheet at any selectors’ meeting.
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.
His irrepressible appetite for the game and never-say-die attitude have captured the hearts of
England fans, provided inspiration for his team mates and won the respect of opponents the
world over. Now Darren Gough tells his story for the first time in this long-awaited
autobiography.
As honest and direct as his performances on the field, Dazzler is a gripping account of life in
the fast lane of one of our most cherished and successful sportsmen. Essential reading for
every cricket fan.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
JAMES HOLLAND ON 020 7416 3253, OR
E-MAIl james.holland@penguin.co.uk
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