Darren Gough might appear in the second season of the Indian Premier League after being approached by officials from the money-spinning tournament.The former England star retired this summer as a full-time pro, but has a meeting booked to talk to the IPL.
Gough, 38, told BBC Sport: “The IPL has always been an interest for me.
“I can still bowl, I’ve proved that this season, I still get a buzz from cricket and it would be nice to test myself at that level again.”Gough – still the only man to take 200 wickets for England in one-day internationals – was only fit enough to appear in half of Yorkshire’s Championship matches this summer.
Earlier this year he said he would only consider a short-term tilt at Twenty20 cricket in 2009 if he knew his body could cope with the stress.He also said he was likeliest to make that return with Yorkshire rather than with one of the IPL sides.But in an apparent change of heart, he told BBC Sport: “The IPL would be a great buzz for me and I need cricket to be a buzz. It’s something I know I could do.
“I would do the [full IPL programme of] six weeks but realistically it might be a short-term deal as a replacement for someone else.”Every single cricketer wants to play in the IPL and there’s not so many places available this year.”
Gough said he would be steering clear of the IPL’s rival – the “rebel” Indian Cricket League – having committed to a family holiday this October, when the ICL’s second season starts.He went on: “A guy from the IPL rang me and we had a conference call, but I’ve not met them personally. There’s a meeting next week.
“It’s not something I need to do, and I’m not sitting here waiting to get on a plane – a couple of cricketers have retired for that reason.”I could have gone last year on a short-term deal. Now I’m retired it would be an ideal thing.”Though the IPL was a success in its first season, only one English player – Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas – played any part in it.
There remains some uncertainty about whether England’s centrally-contracted players like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff will feature in season two, although IPL chairman Lalit Modi is adamant they will.Each franchise in the IPL is allowed to spend $5m (£2.78m) on players’ salaries, though the salary cap could be removed in 2011.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk