​England appoint Darren Gough as fast bowling consultant for New Zealand Tests

The England Men’s cricket team has appointed former England seamer Darren Gough as fast bowling consultant for the warm-up period leading into the two Test matches against New Zealand starting next month.

Gough, 49, will join up with the Test squad in Auckland on November 5 and will work with the seam bowling group until November 18 during the support period in Whangarei.

Commenting on the appointment of Gough, England Men’s Head Coach Chris Silverwood, said:

“I’m delighted to have Darren on board. I have known him a long time and his vast knowledge and experience at international level will drive our bowling unit forward leading into the two-match Test series. He will be excellent around the group and will settle in quickly.”

Gough, who is a qualified level three cricket coach, added:

“It is a tremendous honour to be asked by Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles to be involved in this elite environment. I very much look forward to working with all the bowlers and helping them improve.

"I will gain a lot from the experience and to work at this level will do benefit me as a coach for the long-term. I can’t wait to get cracking.”

The former Yorkshire and Essex quick represented England across all three formats with distinction over a 12-year career, which saw him take 229 wickets in 58 Tests at an average of 28.39. In one-day internationals, he is England's second highest wicket-taker in history with 234 at an average of 26.42 from his 159 matches.

Since his retirement from the sport in 2008, the Barnsley-born Gough has become a respected radio broadcaster on the UK sports station TalkSport.

Ends

England Test squad

Joe Root (Yorkshire) captain

Jofra Archer (Sussex)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Rory Burns (Surrey)

Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

Zak Crawley (Kent)

Sam Curran (Surrey)

Joe Denly (Kent)

Jack Leach (Somerset)

Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)

Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire)

Ollie Pope (Surrey)

Dominic Sibley (Warwickshire)

Ben Stokes (Durham)

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

England tour of New Zealand 2019

Fri 1 Nov: 1st IT20 v New Zealand – Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Sun 3 Nov: 2nd IT20 v New Zealand – Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Tue 5 Nov: 3rd IT20 v New Zealand – Saxton Oval, Nelson

Fri 8 Nov: 4th IT20 v New Zealand – McLean Park, Napier

Sun 10 Nov: 5th IT20 v New Zealand – Eden Park, Auckland

Tue 12 Nov: Two-day warm-up match – Cobham Oval, Whangarei

Fri 15 Nov-Sun 17 Nov: Three-day warm-up match – Cobham Oval, Whangarei

Thu 21 Nov-Mon 25 Nov: 1st Test v New Zealand – Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui

Fri 29 Nov-Tue 3 Dec: 2nd Test v New Zealand – Seddon Park, Hamilton