Gough earns place in provisional squad
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Your support makes all the difference.Darren Gough was yesterday given hope of appearing in next year's World Cup after he was named in England's provisional squad for the International Cricket Council's Champions Trophy while the hero of the hour, Monty Panesar, will have to keep proving himself in the Test arena before being given a crack at the one-day game at international level.
Gough, 36 next month, won his 156th one-day cap against Australia last summer before opting out of selection for the Pakistan winter tour to spend more time with his children.
Gough was overlooked at the start of the season but is included in a 30-man party - which will be cut to 14 by 7 September - along with the injured trio Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles and James Anderson.
There are five uncapped players with Leicestershire paceman Stuart Broad the most likely to make the final squad, joined by Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara, the veteran Mal Loye, Durham's Graham Onions and Sussex's Michael Yardy. All those who played in the recent one-day 5-0 defeat to Sri Lanka are reprieved aside from Worcestershire's bowler Kabir Ali.
England's recent results - four wins in the last 19 completed matches - probably persuaded the selectors to recall Gough. "Darren has been a regular member of the Essex side this season and has been performing well," said the chairman of selectors, David Graveney. "I am sure he will be seeking to further impress over the next few weeks as will all the other pace bowlers in our 30."
Panesar put a positive spin on his omission yesterday. "Of course, I want to play one-day cricket for England," he said. "But right now I am just proud and grateful to have a chance in the Test team. I am not going to worry about anything else."
Graveney said that the injured players included in the provisional England squad - Flintoff, Giles, Anderson, Ian Blackwell and Liam Plunkett - would be assessed before 7 September. Fast bowlers Anderson and Plunkett are likely to play for their counties before the end of the season.
Only those named in the initial 30-strong parties are eligible for the tournament billed as a mini World Cup.
England (Provisional 30-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy, October, India): J M Anderson (Lancashire), I R Bell (Warwickshire), I D Blackwell (Somerset), R S Bopara (Essex), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), S C J Broad (Leicestershire), G Chapple (Lancashire), R Clarke (Surrey), P D Collingwood (Durham), A N Cook (Essex), J W M Dalrymple (Middlesex), A Flintoff (Lancashire), A F Giles (Warwickshire), D Gough (Essex), S J Harmison (Durham), M J Hoggard (Yorkshire), G O Jones (Kent), E C Joyce (Middlesex), J Lewis (Gloucestershire), A G R Loudon (Warwickshire), M B Loye, S I Mahmood (both Lancashire), G Onions (Durham), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), L E Plunkett (Durham), C M W Read (Nottinghamshire), V S Solanki (Worcestershire), A J Strauss (Middlesex), M E Trescothick (Somerset), M H Yardy (Sussex).
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