Gough targets England role

England Cricket / Editor / 12 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Darren Gough has stated his case to become England's new bowling coach and says he has got what it takes to get the pace attack firing again.

The Yorkshire captain says England have never recovered from the loss of Troy Cooley and believes he is the man to put the smiles back on the players faces following a long hard winter.

Gough, who took more than 450 wickets for England, also says he has the backing of the players to replace current coach Kevin Shine.

"I would bring my experience and enthusiasm to the role and I think I'd be very good," Gough revealed.

"The players like me. You saw that two years ago when Troy Cooley left. Simon Jones and Steve Harmison both said publicly they'd like me to be the next bowling coach.

"Unfortunately I'm not very good with computers and unless you have a level-four coaching certificate you can't coach around England.

"But I'd love to put something back into the game and I love representing my country.
"Kevin Shine is an excellent communicator and a good coach but Troy Cooley was a big loss. He had a great relationship with the players."

England are currently preparing for the First Test against the West Indies at Lords and are available at 1.7 to get the series off to a winning start with the tourists trading at 8.6. The draw is on offer at 3.3.