Darren Gough may face disciplinary action by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after his criticism of remarks made by Lord MacLaurin, its outgoing chairman. An ECB spokesman said that the board was "disappointed" by Gough's comments and said that possibile action was "being discussed". MacLaurin said at the weekend that Andrew Flintoff had not taken rehabilitation work following a hernia operation "as seriously as he should have done". He added that Flintoff's recovery had taken too long, and hinted that there had been other factors which had hampered his comeback. "I think he was doing things in his recuperation that he probably shouldn't have," said MacLaurin. "But that is between me, him and David Graveney. Professional footballers are back playing within four or five weeks."

Gough, who has also attracted considerable criticism for what many see as the lack of care over his own fitness, reacted angrily to MacLaurin's comments. The delay in the operation which left Flintoff unfit for the Ashes series was, Gough insisted, the fault of the ECB and not the individual. "He [Flintoff] had the surgery pretty late because yet again he was doing things to please England," Gough said. "He played in one more Test match [against India] for his country to try and help them get a result and a series win.

"He did that, he had the operation probably two or three weeks later than he should have, and the operation, like it is with any operation, it can take longer to recover from than you think," Gough continued, adding that making Flintoff play in the final warm-up match against Queensland was irresponsible. "If he'd have just done his rehab up to the first Test match and not played, he'd have been there for the second. But yet again, the same thing. You're out there, your captain wants you to play and your coach wants you to play and you've done well for England in the last 12 months and you are rushed."

And Gough said that MacLaurin's comments about the recovery time of footballers compared to cricketers were misguided. "In football, he wouldn't be rushed back. That's the difference, a footballer gets managed properly. They've got a proper set-up. When the guys are injured, they've got somewhere to go."

Gough said that he had been left to work alone after his operations during the summer. "I did my own rehab. That wouldn't happen in football, so Lord MacLaurin should get his facts right."

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