Yorkshire and England strike bowler Darren Gough has been given the all clear to start training again following the knee operation which prevented him from going on England's tour of the West Indies.

Gough saw his specialist yesterday who said he was well satisfied with the result of the operation.

"I now intend building up my training at Headingley over the next couple of weeks and then hope to do some bowling if all goes well," said Gough. "Whether I am able to join England in the Caribbean later on is up to others to decide, and will depend to some extent on my fitness. There may be no point in rushing me out too soon and risking a further setback.

"My own aim is to be fit enough to go on Yorkshire's pre-season tour of South Africa which starts on March 21."

Meanwhile, Doug Padgett's 47-year association with Yorkshire - first as a player and then as coach - is to be marked by honorary life membership of the club at next month's annual meeting in Harrogate.

Jimmy Binks, the Hull-born wicketkeeper who played alongside Padgett in seven championship winning seasons for Yorkshire, is to be similarly honoured.

Padgett, 63, became Yorkshire's youngest cricketer in 1951 when he made his debut at 16 years and 320 days, having earlier attracted attention by playing Bradford League cricket for Idle as a 13-year-old.

He went on to score 20,306 first class runs up to his retirement in 1971, a figure exceeded by only five other Yorkshire batsmen since the war, and he also played in 57 one-day matches during the early days of the Gillette Cup and John Player League.

Binks, who now lives in Canada, claimed 872 catches and 172 stumpings, and he remains Yorkshire's only wicketkeeper to register over 100 dismissals in a season, his final tally in 1960 being comprised of 96 catches and 11 stumpings.

He played in 491 matches for Yorkshire - just four more than Padgett - between 1955-69 and both men took part in two Tests for England, Binks twice on the MCC tour of India in 1963-64, and Padgett twice against South Africa in 1960.

Yorkshire are opposing a resolution put forward by former committee member Julian Vallance and seconded by Eric Houseman who is seeking re-election to the committee in North District.

The resolution from the Harrogate pair seeks to make all club members eligible for appointment to sub-committees instead of just those members elected to the general committee, but Yorkshire are against this because they prefer to retain the existing freedom to consult whoever they feel best able to advise and assist the club on any particular issue.

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