Darren Gough has admitted that he is struggling to be fit in time for the start of the NatWest one-day series next week. Gough, who has been sidelined since March, is recovering from two operations on his knee and expects to play his first game of the summer for the Yorkshire Academy at the weekend. But he has admitted that he is unlikely to be ready to return to the England side for the series opener against Sri Lanka on June 27.

"Playing in that is out of the question and probably the second match as well, but I am hopeful after that," he said. "I spoke with the England management a few times over the past few days. While I will definitely play some part in the series, they want me to be fully fit when I am selected."

Gough may be confident that he is close to a return, but there are those who believe that he has let himself slip during his lay-off and is some way short of being ready to play for England. Although he did amble in for a while in the Old Trafford nets at the weekend, he looked far from being fit and appeared to be carrying an excess pound or two.

Stories abound that he has not exactly maintained a strict level of fitness in recent months. In Monday's Guardian, David Hopps wrote that the breakup of Gough's marriage over the winter has led to a "reinvention which has included a diamond earring and a tattoo, as well as an exploration of a few old drinking haunts. A week in Lanzarote this month led to discomfort in the England hierarchy that he had been let so far off the leash."

If Gough thinks that he only has to turn up to be selected then he might be in for a rude awakening. Nasser Hussain has warned that he "must fulfil two criteria - he must get himself fit and he must play some cricket. He is not such an asset that we will be prepared to gamble with him."

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