England are unimpressed, if also a little amused at the prospect of seeing Gough, all diamond earrings, barrel body and dodgy right knee, huffing and puffing on the dance floor.

Having told the England selectors he did not want to be considered for the one-day leg of the tour to Pakistan because he wanted to spend more time with his family, David Graveney, the chairman of selectors was a little surprised to be the last to know on Sunday that Gough will be dancing the waltz, the foxtrot and rumba instead. Gough will join Colin Jackson, the former world champion hurdler, Dennis Taylor, the former world champion snooker player, and television stars such as Gloria Hunniford, Zoe Ball and Patsy Palmer, formerly of EastEnders.

Gough is being partnered by Lilia Kopylova, a professional dancer. Contestants have to learn new dance routines each week and then survive a public vote. The first episode is on October 15 on BBC One and the series will finish in December.

“All discussions about not being available related to spending more time with his family, but who’s to say this didn’t develop in the last week or so,” Graveney said charitably. Given the long lead-in that producers require, it is highly unlikely Gough did not know about this before ruling himself out of the squad that was announced last Monday.

“It might have been worth a phone call to keep me in the loop,” Graveney said. “I wasn’t aware that he had hidden dancing talent. He has to realise if he gives up his place it might not be easy to get it back. The bottom line is that he didn’t make himself available because of family reasons, which you respect. This is slightly different. We can’t give guarantees to anyone. We also don’t have a policy of being able to pick and choose which tours to go on.”

There will be a dim view of the way Gough has handled the situation as he seeks to augment his fame. Andy Robinson, the England rugby coach, dropped Matt Dawson, who could not commit to England training last season because of his role on Question of Sport. Phil Tufnell, the former England spinner, gave up his career with Middlesex on the eve of the 2004 season to disappear into the jungle on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!

Gough, 35, has another year to run on his contract with Essex, but had a dispiriting finish to the one-day games against Australia. He retired from Test cricket in 2003 and has had multiple knee operations. He said last week his body needed the break. But dancing can take its toll. “What little I’ve watched of it, people were losing a lot of weight and it seemed quite strenuous,” Graveney said. “It might test him out with his wonky knee.”

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