England cricket captain Mike Atherton has refused to rule injured paceman Darren Gough out of the West Indies tour.

Mike Atherton on Gough (0' 43")

Gough's failure to recover from a long-standing hamstring complaint, forcing him to withdraw from the squad on New Year's Eve, has hit England's hopes of success in the Caribbean.

Mike Atherton: "huge challenge" for England

But Atherton, speaking at a news conference on the eve of the England team's departure for the West Indies, stressed that Gough's meeting with a specialist at the end of this month was all important.

"Darren is obviously very disappointed, but I've spoken with him this afternoon and he's keeping up hope in the back of his mind," said the England skipper.

Mike Atherton on England team (0' 29")

"He's got to see his specialist again in a few weeks' time and if he gets the all-clear, then of course he can still come out to join the tour.

Atherton was quick to stress, though, that the rest of England's pace bowlers are looking at Gough's injury as an extra chance for them to break into the team for the opening Test in Jamaica, which starts on January 29.

Mike Atherton on West Indies team (0' 19")

Chris Silverwood, Gough's replacement and fellow Yorkshireman, flew back from the England A tour of Kenya last night and joined up with the squad at Gatwick today.

Atherton feels that the 14-week tour represents "a huge challenge" for England and expects the series to be hard fought.

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