October 09 Wednesday 2002
Gough not confident of being fit for Ashes

LONDON: England fast bowler Darren Gough said Tuesday he was not confident of being fit for first two matches of the Ashes tour of Australia.

Gough, 32, has struggled to recover from a persistent right knee injury which has kept him out of England's test team for a year. He has undergone three knee surgeries in six months, the last in August.

Doubts over Gough's fitness prompted England selectors to include six fast bowlers in the squad, but none have the paceman's experience of conditions in Australia.

"They have obviously missed me," Gough told BBC radio. "I know that when I'm bowling well I'm the best bowler in the country." "If I miss the first two tests but am there for the rest of the winter then I'll be happy. From what I have been told it's not a case of me being fit from the start of the tour. 

"It's a case of going out and doing the work I've been doing while I'm there, and we'll see how it's going after two or three weeks. I would like to be going to Melbourne not having lost the series, it's something we haven't managed to do the last two times we have been there." The five Test series starts in Brisbane on Nov. 7, with Tests in Adelaide and Perth the same month. The Melbourne Test starts Dec. 26 with the final match in Sydney on Jan. 2 2003.

England is seeking to win the Ashes for the first time since 1989.