Darren Gough

Darren Gough (born September 18 1970, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Yorkshire) is an English cricketer. He was arguably England's best pace bowler since Bob Willis.

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Gough is a right arm fast medium bowler and right handed batsman. 5' 11" and broad in beam, he achieves his pace from a good approach to the wicket and a beautiful, leaping sideways-on action. He played county cricket for Yorkshire for 15 years before moving to Essex in 2004.

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He was first selected for the England cricket team in 1994, playing both Test and one-day international cricket. He made an impact as a bowler and as a tail-end batsman, and the media, as is usual with practically any aggressive England all-rounder, quickly dubbed him the "new Botham"; like most such pretenders to that throne, he did not fully ascend to such lofty heights, but his continued presence in the England team became a vital one in both personality and play. Memorable highlights of his Test career included taking the 23rd hat-trick in Test cricket against Australia at Sydney in 1999.

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He retired from Test cricket in 2003 after a knee injury threatened to end his career, having taken 229 wickets with a bowling average of 28.39. He has continued playing one-day international cricket, and became the first Englishman to take 200 wickets in one-day cricket in September 2004. In January 2005, he played for the World XI in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal one-day international versus the Asian XI.

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Gough asked not to be considered for selection for England's tour of Pakistan so that he could spend more time with his family. Selectors were content with his decision until it was discovered that he had been signed up to take part in the BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing. He still harbours ambitions to play in the 2007 World Cup, despite warnings from selectors that he may now have difficulty in regaining his spot in the one-day team.

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September 18: September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). There are 104 days remaining....

1970: 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday....

Barnsley: Barnsley is a large town in South Yorkshire, England, lying on the River Dearne, approximately twenty kilometres north of Sheffield. It is between junctions 36 and 37 of the M1 motorway and has a railway station served by the Hallam and Penistone Lines. It is the main town in the metropolitan boro...

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