Darren Gough, fighting to get fit again after serious knee problems, will be roaring in with Yorkshire for the first three months of the new

season.

And if he stays fully fit during that time, he will remain with the club under the terms of a new contract which has already been ironed out.

The length of the contract, however, has not been disclosed.

Gough was in bullish mood at a press conference at Headingley yesterday when it was announced that agreement had been reached on a new contract.

"There has been a lot of rubbish talked about whether I would play for Yorkshire again but everything has been all right since last October, when it was agreed I would sign a new contract if I proved to be fit enough," he said.

"I am not charging in at 100 miles an hour yet but I am getting there and the club has stood by me.

"Yorkshire have been very loyal and I have been put under no pressure. I am now bowling every day of the week and feel as fit as I have been for a long time."

Gough also made it clear that he was keen to regain his England place but he stressed that he would not be trying to rush back.

"I was not out long enough before but the first thing a player wants after injury is to get back on the field as soon as possible and it is a pity that I came back too soon.

"I was not fit to go to Australia in the first place and England knew that at the time."

"When I left Australia I thought my career was over but I have worked hard and people have helped me through that."

Gough said he believed he was still England's best bowler.

"Several of England's top players told me that had I been playing when we narrowly lost to Australia in the World Cup the game would not have got that far."

It was also announced yesterday that Darren Lehmann has been chosen for Australia's forthcoming tour of the West Indies and will not be playing for Yorkshire this season. Yorkshire chief executive Colin Graves said that it was not felt that they needed to replace Lehmann and they would stick with their present players unless something happened to change the situation.

This means that Yorkshire will start out with Matthew Elliott as their only overseas player, despite being allowed two for the first time.

l A call for Yorkshire to declare null and void the ballot to elect representatives to the new members' committee has been rejected by club president Robin Smith.

Eric Houseman, one of seven candidates seeking to fill the four elected places, said he believed all the representatives this year should be appointed by the Management Board because some Yorkshire members had received more than one ballot paper and others had not received the election addresses of all of the candidates.

But Smith said that most of the 33 members who had received more than one ballot paper had been contacted and the error pointed out.