Gough knock caps bad day

8:47am Monday 27th August 2007

After the euphoria of their Championship win over Warwickshire, it was down to earth with a bump for Yorkshire at Scarborough when the NatWest Pro40 division two leaders slumped to a five wicket defeat at the hands of Surrey.

Yorkshire's problems were not entirely restricted to what happened on the field either because captain Darren Gough managed only two overs before having to retire for ice-pack treatment on a sore shin.

England skipper Michael Vaughan was unable to play in the game after suffering back spasms soon after arriving at North Marine Road in the morning and he was sent home to rest.

Gough was due a fitness test this morning ahead of Yorkshire's NatWest Pro40 clash with Durham at Riverside later today, but Vaughan will not be called upon.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's director of cricket, said: "Darren is suffering from a bit of wear and tear at the moment and he felt his shin become sore again while he was batting.

"He will continue to have ice-pack treatment and we will see how he feels after a night's rest."

At least Yorkshire now have more than a week in which Gough and Vaughan can recover before the crucial Championship match against Sussex, which begins at Hove on September 5.

Yorkshire surrendered their NatWest Pro40 unbeaten record with barely a murmur and the defeat would have been even more emphatic had Gough not led a late rescue act after they had crashed to 58-8 against the Surrey seamers after winning the toss.

For some inexplicable reason, Surrey turned to their spinners at this stage and - much to the relief of the big crowd - Gough and David Wainwright put on 72 in 16 overs for the ninth wicket.

Gough twice launched into leg-spinner Chris Schofield by belting him for sixes over mid-wicket, and the pacemen had to be belatedly brought back at one end, but it was Harbhajan Singh who split the pair when Wainwright swung him away to the mid-wicket boundary where he was caught by Chris Jordan.

Last man Matthew Hoggard was bowled by Stewart Walters at 145 in the 34th over, leaving Gough just one run short of his second half- century in the competition for Yorkshire in 119 matches. He faced 53 balls and hit five fours and two sixes.

Matt Nicholson dismissed Yorkshire openers Jacques Rudolph and Craig White. It was White's departure with the score on 29 that sparked a collapse, which saw seven wickets fall for 29 runs in ten overs.

Mohammad Akram had a spell of three wickets for five runs in 17 deliveries and 18-year-old Jordan claimed three wickets in five accurate overs.

There was help off the pitch for the seamers, but there were some careless shots.

Surrey were given a rapid start with 60 in seven overs from openers Scott Newman and James Benning, Gough giving away 16 runs in two overs before having to go off.

Benning's 37 from 25 balls with seven fours and a six was ended by Tim Bresnan, who trapped him lbw, but Newman (30) and Mark Butcher (34) kept Surrey in control although there was a good stint of bowling from spinner Wainwright, who picked up two wickets.

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