Cricket: Gooch could join tour in emergency

GRAHAM GOOCH would be prepared to face the West Indies this winter, providing it did not mean spending too long away from home.

Gooch, speaking in an interview on GMTV, said that although he had not made himself available for the trip, it was not because he did not want to play the West Indies. 'I would love to play Test match cricket,' he said.

'What I would struggle with is the fact that I don't like being away from England for three months at a time. I know when I get there that I don't think my heart will be in the actual being there.'

Asked if he would be prepared to go out if there was an injury during the tour, he replied: 'I said to Keith Fletcher, 'if you have got an injury half-way through and if you want to consider it, then obviously I would consider it'.'

Gooch said that he had not been persuaded to go on the tour to India last winter. 'I had told him (Fletcher) that I had changed my mind and I would go to India. He never really bent my ear to try to persuade me to go. As it turned out, I didn't play well. I was ill for quite a bit of time. Maybe it was a mistake.'