DARREN Gough preserved his dignity this week with the announcement that he was retiring forthwith from Test cricket.

His honest and frank statement revealed the physical and mental turmoil he has endured of late as he has strained every sinew in an attempt to reach peak fitness again after three operations on his right knee.

In the second Test against South Africa at Lord's it finally became obvious to Gough that the troublesome knee would never allow him to be the England bowler of old and he made the correct decision to bow out.

After taking one wicket for 229 runs in the first two Tests, Gough may also have seen the writing on the wall and realised that the axe was poised to drop if he did not act quickly.

That would have been a sad end to a great bowler's Test career and one which he would not have deserved. Now he can hold his head high and look back with pride on the 229 wickets which made him the eighth most successful bowler in England's history.

Gough cannot be blamed for making every effort to resume his Test career, even after a specialist had warned him towards the end of last year that the odds were against him reaching his previous levels of fitness.

But England deserve some flak for the haste they showed in wanting to bring Gough back when it was obvious to many observers that he simply had not played enough cricket to prove his knee would stand up to the rigours of five-day Test matches.

Unfortunately, Gough sometimes felt that opinions which questioned his fitness for an England return were a slight on himself and this led to some bitterness when there was really no need for it.

When he was picked for the first Test after an indifferent game for Yorkshire against Durham at Riverside, Gough rounded on those who felt his England comeback was too early and said: "To all those people who doubted me I would say 'bad luck'. Proving them wrong has been my inspiration. I have shown that with determination and pride you can come back whatever the difficulties you face.

"I have always wanted to get my way and not to be told by others that it's time to pack it in. I am over the moon about how things have gone generally for me in the Durham game and now I'm totally confident that I am ready for Test cricket again.

"The encouraging thing is the general public in England want me to play even though I get criticised by the media sometimes because that is their job."

But what Gough did not appreciate at the time was that his Test return would not prove the doubters wrong but rather prove them right.

And he admitted as much when he said this week: "It has become apparent to me no matter what my heart, head and the public want me to do that my knee will not allow me to play Test match cricket."

Then, in a touching and heartfelt message to his many fans he added: "I hope they don't feel that after 229 Test wickets and a body in bits I have let them down."

Nobody feels Gough has let them down but it is quite natural that in recent years his main admirers have been England fans rather than those Yorkshire supporters who have questioned his value to the side as a result of only appearing occasionally - and then usually when warming up for England.

Yorkshire members will be gladdened by Gough's promise that he wants to help move the club forward and many other cricket followers throughout the land will be pleased that he wants to continue playing in one-day matches for England and that he has still got his sights firmly set on the 2007 World Cup.

I doubt, however, that we will ever see Gough in an England shirt again and even his future with Yorkshire beyond this season must be questionable at the moment.

How do we yet know that a knee that won't stand up to five-day cricket will prove strong enough to see him through regular four-day cricket?

And what about his place in a side which includes Chris Silverwood, Ryan Sidebottom and Steven Kirby, plus the up and coming Tim Bresnan and Matthew Hoggard when he, too, is fully fit and perhaps not wanted by England?

Gough has got to show in the season's remaining matches that he is more than a match for these quick bowlers if he is to hold his place on merit - and go on holding it next summer.

Nobody can be sure at this stage just how long Gough's playing career will last but if he can produce some of the old magic at Scarborough next week then the Festival crowds will certainly lap it up. Cricket's most charismatic character may still have a few tricks left up his sleeve.

Fleming a shining light

STEPHEN Fleming's awesome 139 not out for Yorkshire Phoenix on Wednesday may not have quite matched the brutal brilliance of Darren Lehmann's 191 against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2001 which was Yorkshire's biggest individual score in all forms of one-day cricket.

But it was undoubtedly the best seen under floodlights and the New Zealand captain also had the satisfaction of knowing that it was the highest by a Yorkshire batsman in county league matches at Headingley.

The two scores immediately below it were both unbeaten knocks of 118 - by Jim Love against Surrey in 1987 and Simon Kellett against Derbyshire five years later.

That dramatic opening partnership of 167 in just 21 overs between Fleming and Matthew Wood not only ran Warwickshire Bears ragged but was Yorkshire's third highest at Headingley behind the unbroken 198 between Matthew Elliott and Anthony McGrath off Kent Spitfires last season and 176 by Richard Blakey and Sachin Tendulkar in the Roses clash in 1992.

It exceeded the 165 between former captains Martyn Moxon and David Byas against Northamptonshire at Headingley in 1993 and equalled the 167 by Moxon and Ashley Metcalfe against Middlesex at Lord's in 1991.

As well as Yorkshire completing the double over Warwickshire Bears there were other reasons for them to feel delighted with their performance. Yorkshire won with 6.4 overs to spare, despite Warwickshire's 273-6 being the biggest score by a visiting team at Headingley, the previous best being Lancashire's 264-3 in 1992.

And the 6,000-plus fans who saw the match got full value for money because the runs aggregate of 547 was the highest in a game in Yorkshire, topping by two runs the total at Scarborough in 1994 when Surrey smashed 375-4 - thanks to blistering centuries from Alistair Brown and Graham Thorpe -- and Yorkshire replied with 170.

Richard Blakey also reached a milestone against Warwickshire on what was generally a quiet night for the wicketkeeper-batsman.

He pouched only one catch but it took him to 234, which equalled the record number of catches in the competition set by his predecessor, David Bairstow.

Updated: 08:54 Saturday, August 09, 2003