"I know it sounds silly coming from someone who lives down south now, but it's absolutely 100 per cent true. I'm a passionate Yorkshireman and a Barnsley lad. That will never change as long as I live."

Over the years, Gough has had to face accusations from a sceptical minority about his commitment to the Yorkshire cause – whether over his non-participation in certain fixtures or his decision to quit the club for Essex in 2004.

But after two years in which he has demonstrated his commitment as Yorkshire's captain, Gough insists he has always had the club at heart and spells out what playing for the White Rose has meant to him.

"I have loved coming back to Yorkshire, absolutely loved it," said Gough. "To round off my career at Yorkshire, my county, has been a tremendous privilege and a tremendous honour.

"Some people probably don't realise what playing for Yorkshire has meant to me. It has meant the world, it really has. When I went to Essex, it was for family reasons – not because I'd turned my back on Yorkshire. It's why it hurts when some people have said in the past that my commitment hasn't been there."

In typical straight-talking style, Gough outlined why he thought such charges had been levelled against him.

"The problem came about when I was the main England player," he said. "I don't think England properly explained to the Yorkshire public that it wasn't me who didn't want to play for Yorkshire, but that it was England saying I couldn't play for Yorkshire.

"Knowing what Yorkshiremen are like, because I am one myself, they can become very judgmental about it all and I think I took a lot of unnecessary stick without someone coming out and sticking their neck out for me.

"That's why I've always been so quick to defend people like Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard, because I know what it feels like when you're a centrally-contracted player to be told that you can't play for your county.

"You have to take it on the chin. You can't argue with England. They employ you. They pay your wages. I mean, I was one of the first centrally-contracted players.

"The criticism I got back then took it out of me personally and I lost a little bit of love of playing for Yorkshire during that period when I got so much stick, unnecessary stick, and that was one of the smaller reasons why I left the club.

"It wasn't the main reason – I left for family reasons. But that criticism was something I could have done without.

"The bottom line has always been that I wanted to play for Yorkshire all the time. Nowadays, I think the game has changed and people realise that it's different now if you're an England player.

"If you're centrally-contracted, it's England who decide when and where you can play – not your county."

Gough said his only other regret had been his supposed bust-up with former captain David Byas.

"A lot has been said about me and David Byas, but I've got the utmost respect for Dave as a bloke and a player," said Gough.

"I just think he found it hard to understand that I was England's main weapon and that England wanted to rest me, and I think at times he might have put that against me.

"But that was my only argument with Dave. I get on with him. I speak to him now. It was just a disagreement. But he had never come across that sort of thing before. Dave had never played for England.

"I know exactly how Vaughan and Hoggard have felt because I've been there, and I'm pretty proud of the way I've handled those players.

"I've had to handle Vaughany not being available for games and it's something I've dealt with. As I say, I think these days the game has moved on."

Gough said the Yorkshire captaincy had meant the world to him.

"I've been very passionate about the job and I think you need to be a strong personality to be the Yorkshire captain," he added.

"I'm very relaxed and the players have respected me because they knew that if they stepped out of line, there'd be trouble.

"I think I've managed to unite the team because, before I came back to Yorkshire, there were problems in that regard.

"The big thing for me was that Anthony McGrath stayed. Everyone knows he was going to leave and that he had totally lost faith in it all.

"But he said, 'if you come back, I'll stay', and I think a few players would still have been at the club if I hadn't left to go to Essex."

Gough went on: "I think sometimes at Yorkshire you need a counsellor not a captain. You have to be there for all the players, no matter what is going on in their lives or in their cricket.

"When people rang me about something in their lives, I'd never say 'it's nowt to do with me'. I tried to help them in any way I could. You need to be able to talk to someone as a player and, if it's not your captain, who do you talk to?

"Cricket has changed nowadays and you need people in charge who understand life. I've been lucky, I've seen many different personalities during the course of my career and I knew how to deal with them. I didn't get it right all the time, but I think I got it right a lot of the time."

Gough said he would love to have played more often this year but that age and fitness had finally caught up with him.

"I've struggled this year to bowl in four-day cricket," he added. "It's just taken it out of me. I played a lot last year and I played through a stress fracture in my shin.

"I've been desperate to play this season and, when I have played, I think I've made a difference, but age catches up with everyone in the end."

Gough said he had no idea what he planned to do with the rest of his life.

"It's all up in the air," he said. "I enjoy my radio work and doing bits and pieces on television, so we'll have to see how it goes.

"I just want to have a break for a while and spend some time with my family. My wife thinks I should become a housewife, but there's no chance of that happening."