I almost quit England: Darren Gough

London, May 20: Fast bowler Darren Gough admitted on Sunday that he and five others almost walked out on England two years ago in a row over money.

The spark that ignited Gough's plans of a walkout happened at the World Cup here in 1999 when the England cricketer claimed they were offered 12,000 pounds ($18,000) a man instead of the expected 30,000-40,000.

Gough, Graham Thorpe, Graeme Hick, Neil Fairbrother, Ian Austin and Alan Mullally decided to stage a boycott but no one else in the squad was prepared to risk their international careers.

"Had we stuck together and won that battle, we would have found the resolve to make a serious impact on the tournament," he says in his autobiography, which is being serialized in the News of the World.

"Instead this dispute destroyed our team spirit and chances. We bottled it on the field as well.

"Our row with Lord's was solely about money. It was an unseemly public squabble, which did considerable damage to our prospects and England's image. Nobody came out of the mess looking good."

Gough, who along with Thorpe is currently playing for England against
Pakistan in the First Test at Lord's, added: "I never anticipated any problems over the World Cup fees.

"England were the hosts, the tournament was billed as the carnival of cricket and the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) were talking of making around 60 million pounds.

"A couple of months before the World Cup we were stunned to be offered around 12,000 pounds. All the players thought the basic fee would be 30,000-40,000 pounds but that was the amount the ECB were paying our counties for each player's release.

"The row did not help our World Cup cause. Our hopes collapsed at Edgbaston when rain forced our final group game against India into a second day."