Darren Gough was due to undergo an operation this afternoon on his injured knee which will keep him out of action for around a month. Gough suffered a torn cartilage in his right knee during England's final one-day international in New Zealand, but is expected to recover in time for the start of the domestic season.

A Yorkshire spokesman said: "Fingers crossed he will be back in action at the start of April when the players are returning from overseas duty. It's not that serious, it's key-hole surgery on a small tear in his cartilage and we expect him back, if all goes to plan, for the start of the season."

Gough, 31, was equally optimistic about his chances of a quick recovery. He told Teletext, "Even if I do need an operation on my knee I don't see it as a major problem, and I reckon I'll be fit for the start of the season in April. These days they can perform keyhole surgery which speeds up the recovery period. So at most I'll be out for four weeks, five weeks maximum."

Gough's injury inadvertently helped the England selectors out of a difficult problem. They had not selected him for the forthcoming Test series against New Zealand saying they would not let players pick and choose their tours after both Gough and Alec Stewart chose to miss the pre-Christmas Test campaign in India.

However, such was Gough's one-day form in New Zealand there had been calls for him to be included in the Test squad.

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