NOT often can it be said of a man as he takes his leave of professional cricket … there goes one of the game's great characters, when comes such another?

But the sentiment applies in the case of Darren Gough, character and cricketer extraordinaire, as the curtain comes down on his celebrated career.

For when will there be another 'Goughie'? When will the game again witness such exuberance, showmanship, razzmatazz and colour? His has been a larger-than-life presence and cricket can only be poorer for his passing.

Beneath all the glitz and glamour (admittedly not to everyone's liking) lies the first and foremost reason cricket will miss him, for Gough has been an exceptionally fine pace bowler – one of the very finest this country has produced.

If statistics are the primary yardstick of a cricketer's capabilities, then Gough's signpost his talent in no uncertain terms: 229 Test wickets at 28.39 (only eight Englishmen have taken more) and 235 one-day international wickets at 26.42 (no Englishman has managed more – or even come close).

As with so many sportsmen who gravitate naturally into that pigeonhole entitled "characters", it is easy to forget that the character must always be founded on substance and, whatever his critics have said about him, Gough has not lacked for the latter. Characters are one thing, but talent is everything. The combination of the two is usually irresistible.

Darren Gough was born at Monk Bretton, Barnsley, on September 18, 1970, the son of a pest control officer and the grandson of a miner.

His father was a sports fan as opposed to a sportsman (although he had been a sprint champion at school) and his mother had been a ballet dancer in her younger days – and, as such, is as proud of her son's achievements on the television show Strictly Come Dancing as on the cricket field.

The young Gough was a supremely gifted sportsman at school and shone at cricket, football, rugby and athletics.

Football was his first love, however, with cricket only coming to the fore when he reached his teens and joined Yorkshire County Cricket Club on a trainee scheme.

Gough made his first-class debut against Middlesex in 1989 and, by 1993, had established himself as a regular in the team.

But it wasn't all plain sailing. At one stage, Gough toyed with leaving Yorkshire, but his performances during that 1993 summer earned him a place on the A tour to South Africa and he never looked back.

The following June, he made his Test debut against New Zealand at Old Trafford and immediately brightened the international stage.

Gough plundered 65 from the No 9 position in England's first innings 382 and then produced his team's best figures of 4-47 as the tourists were routed for 151.

New Zealand escaped with a draw, but Gough had proved his ability at the highest level. Inevitably – and wearisomely – he was dubbed 'The New Botham' – a tag that was just as inappropriate in his case as with previous recipients.

That winter, Gough began to develop into English cricket's hottest property and a star in his own right. In the final Ashes Test in Sydney, his thrilling 51 and
6-49 narrowly failed to win the game and showed everyone England had a fighter on their hands.

"He was young, good-looking, an authentic Yorkshireman with that air of sleeves-up defiance which the nation adores. Vast wealth as well as glory looked a certainty," noted Wisden.

But even as the cheers were ringing around the SCG, so problems were developing in Gough's left foot. He brushed them aside only to break down in a one-day international a few days later, returning home with his foot in plaster.

Four years of frustrating injuries and aborted comebacks followed as Gough's star twinkled rather than blazed, but, in 1998, at his home ground of Headingley, he stormed back to settle the Test series against South Africa and was at the heart of England's epic win in the Melbourne Test later that year.

What happened next enshrined Gough in the affections of the English public. Back at the SCG in January 1999, he took an Ashes hat-trick, having Ian Healy caught behind and bowling Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller with deliveries that would have knocked over far superior batsmen. "He is an inspirational cricketer in an uninspiring era," observed Wisden. "And his successes make the Tests he has missed even more poignant."

No one contributed more to England's four series wins in a row in 2000 and 2000-01 and Gough appeared to have several more years ahead of him on the Test match stage, even as he moved into his 30s.

But a long-standing knee problem curtailed his Ashes campaign in 2002-03, heralding a premature end to his Test career the following summer, and Gough thereafter concentrated primarily on one-day cricket, excelling as a 'death' bowler of the highest quality.

Gough hung on to a place in England's one-day international side until he was omitted from the 2007 World Cup squad and, after a three-year stint at Essex, he returned to Yorkshire as captain last summer on a two-year deal. It seemed a move fraught with risk for both player and club, but it paid rich dividends in 2007 as Gough rolled back the years in stirring fashion.

Helped by dreadful weather conditions which allowed him valuable recuperation time in between fixtures, and despite the ongoing effects of a sore shin, Gough put his heart and soul into the cause as he took 37 Championship wickets at 23.67 and 23 List A wickets at 19.78.

This year, age has caught up with him once and for all and injuries have taken a greater toll, but he has still been a potent force in one-day cricket and played an important part in Yorkshire's promotion in the Pro40 League.

Cricket will remember him as one of the most charismatic entertainers the game has known and as a pace bowler who, at the very top of his form and fitness, was among the finest of modern times. Gough has played with a smile on his face and put bums on seats. Now he has gone, when comes such another?