Fast bowler Darren Gough has rounded on all those who queried whether he should still be playing top-flight cricket after becoming the first Englishman to take 200 one-day international wickets.
Gough, 34, a Yorkshire hero but now in his first season with Essex, became the 19th bowler in history on Sunday to reach the 200-mark when he had India's Harbhajan Singh caught by England captain Michael Vaughan.
That match was Gough's 134th one-day international, making him easily the most experienced member of hosts England's attack in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy which starts later this week.
But when he retired from Test match cricket last year, having taken 229 wickets in 58 matches, because of persistent knee trouble, many believed his desire to keep playing one-day internationals was simply holding up the progress of younger England bowlers.
And they also questioned whether his fitness would allow him to fulfil his dream of playing at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
Gough gave his detractors further ammunition by taking just six wickets in 10 one-day internationals this year before Sunday's match, a poor return for a new-ball bowler.
But the veteran quick has never lacked confidence in his own ability and, speaking ahead of England's Champions Trophy opener against Zimbabwe at Edgbaston on Friday, Gough insisted outsiders would have no say in when he retired.
"I have heard people say this might be the natural end. It is not for the media to decide when I retire, it is my decision, the captain's decision, the selectors' decision.
"It does annoy me," Gough told reporters on Monday. "I am not the oldest man in the tournament.
"Glenn McGrath [Australia] is older than me, Chris Cairns [New Zealand] is older than me -- and I don't hear people saying Glenn McGrath should go pack it in after this tournament.
"I love proving people wrong. I think I deserve the opportunity if I can keep my fitness up," added Gough who was angered by his omission from England's one-day squad for the last (northern) winter tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Gough, reflecting on his 200 one-day international wickets, added: "I am a proud man and to be the first Englishman to do anything is a very proud moment. It ranks up there as one of the special moments of my career.
"To go past my hero Ian Botham a couple of years ago was a cause for great pride and it doesn't matter how my 200th came.
"When you have a career-threatening injury it takes time to come back. But we worked out a formula to get back and playing a full season has given me confidence and I am getting stronger and stronger.
"I am happy with the way it is coming out -- 88 miles an hour [141.6kph] isn't bad for a medium pacer!"
Champions trophy
India batsman Venkatsai Laxman insisted the team could put their 2-1 one-day series defeat by England behind them and be a force to be reckoned with in the ICC Champions Trophy.
The "mini World Cup" gets underway in England on Friday with India, the co-holders after the 2002 final against Sri Lanka in Colombo was washed out, playing their first match of the competition against Kenya -- a repeat of last year's World Cup semi-final -- at the Hampshire Rose Bowl on Saturday.
But despite Sunday's morale-boosting 23-run win against England at Lord's, India were still bowled out for 204, the latest instance of their powerful batting line-up failing to fire en masse.
"It's just a matter of spending more time in the middle and converting those 30s into big ones," Laxman told reporters at the squad's hotel here Monday.
"We are not clicking as a unit. Even as a team, the batting has let us down. People are not able to convert those starts into big ones."
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