England / Ralph Ellis / 12 February 2011 /

He was England's go-to bowler for over a decade and one of the greatest-ever exponents of death-bowling in the ODI format. We chatted to former Yorkshire, Essex and England star Darren Gough ahead of the World Cup.

It's Cricket World Cup week, so when Betfair paid a visit to talkSPORT's studios we couldn't resist asking Darren Gough, who played in the tournament when it was last in India in 1996 among 159 One Day Internationals, about what we might expect . .

Hi Darren. After the Ashes we were all talking about England becoming the best in the world but it's rather gone pear shaped since. How do you see England's World Cup chances now?

I don't think they are any different. Listen, any team going to a World Cup, among the top sides, has got as good a chance as any other. We had a bad time in Australia, but I think the players learned a few lessons over there, and now it is whether they take them into their match play.

Could it have damaged morale though?

I don't think so. I talk to some of the players still and I can tell you we've got a good coach. Andy Flower knows what he's doing. Throughout the whole tour, even when the one-day bit wasn't going right, he kept them together. He kept them training hard, worked on their strengths, and daft as it may seem coming away from Australia after such a long trip will be good. They are going to a different country, playing in different conditions. England can start again.

Is that based on hope or experience?

Experience, definitely. When we went to the 1996 World Cup I think we'd just lost 6-1 in South Africa, but we got to India and went to the quarter-finals. We weren't as good a team as this one. This is a good team that's capable of beating anyone. There are world class players there but maybe we haven't quite figured out how best to use everyone.

What has to improve?

I think the batting has been good enough but the partnerships didn't happen. We never created partnerships to put pressure on Australia and I think that's the one thing Andy Flower will be working on.

What would your format be then?

Do you know what? Ravi Bopara being brought in because of Eoin Morgan's injury could turn out to be a real bonus. I think he'll help in Asian conditions. I played with him with Essex and trust me, he's a very good cricketer. As a bowler he's under rated, and I think he's been under-used by England in one day cricket with the ball. He's got a good slower delivery, he bowls wicket to wicket. We used to call him 'Golden Arm' because he takes wickets even when he's not given that many overs. I think he wants to open the batting, too. Nobody really claimed that opening spot in Australia.

Okay so what would be the rest of your order?

It's interesting trying to guess how Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss will want to play it, but I think I'd look at Bopara and Strauss to open, then Trott, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Prior, Yardy, Swann, Broad and Anderson. Then I'm sure Tim Bresnan (if he's fit) will pop up at some point, giving a rest to one of the spinners, either Yardy or Swann
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We always seem to look for Pietersen to be the match winner

Yes and I know he's my mate but I think this could be his stage. It is a World Cup and the best players want to come to the fore there. It's been a bit of a let down in the past in World Cups, but these are opportunities you want to grab. It doesn't matter how many One Day Internationals you've played in, or how much cricket you've had, this tournament comes every four years and top players want to give top performances. Looking back I can remember I missed 2003 in South Africa because of injury and I was distraught. I'm still annoyed, even though I'm proud that I did play in two of them. The crowds in 1999 in England, and I took wickets, made for some special memories. It was just a shame the team came up short.

Who are the other big players who'll want to take centre stage?

You can't look beyond Sachin Tendulkar, The Little Master. He was brilliant in 1996 when he was still only a kid. He was top scorer with 500 plus runs. He's 37 now and you can't tell me he won't have it in mind to lead the way for the home country again, except he'll want to lift the trophy this time.

It's the batters who will dominate this tournament then?

Yes. You only have to look at the stats. I think the average score for ODIs in India last year was about 280. But oddly that means good bowlers are even more vital. A good medium pace bowler, with a clever change of pace, and a good stock ball, can be effective in the middle part of the innings. England will have that in Collingwood and Bopara and both can do that job.

Get to the nitty gritty. Will we win it?

Hand on heart, in those conditions I think the winner comes from India, South Africa or Sri Lanka. The outside bet is Sri Lanka, but I can't split the other two.
We've a free £50 bet with any winnings to a favourite charity to say thank you for your time

Brilliant. I try to support a small charity in Aylesbury called Ali's Dream (the website is https://alisdream.f2s.com/). And as I don't want to bet against England I'll back Chelsea to win the Champions League at [6.8]. When Fernando Torres settles down he'll get goals.

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