There was no sign of a fatted calf being killed, but otherwise there was the feeling of a prodigal son being welcomed home at Headingley Carnegie yesterday. After his three-year exile at Essex, Darren Gough has been persuaded to postpone his move into showbusiness to deal with the grittier matter of leading Yorkshire from the dark days they have endured this winter.

The captaincy of his native county, he said, is just the challenge he needs at the age of 36. The biggest challenge of his career? “After the dancing, yes,” he said.

Responding to overtures from Geoff Boycott and Michael Vaughan, Gough is returning to the club he represented for 15 years on a two-year contract, which includes an exit clause after one year. In the meantime, his dalliances with showbusiness, which began with his victorious appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in the winter of 2005, will be confined to the close-season, starting with a series of appearances as a guest captain on Question of Sport in the next few weeks.

“That’s the way I’ll go eventually, but for a job like this I can put that on hold,” he said. “I had a new contract offer from Essex and I thought about retiring, but this is not a job that you turn down twice.”

Gough was first offered the captaincy shortly before he left Yorkshire in 2004, but he had a strained relationship with David Byas, the director of cricket, and opted to move to Essex to be nearer his children. Byas lost his job this winter and Gough was critical yesterday of the way that Yorkshire cricket has been run in his absence.

“From speaking to the players, they’ve not been enjoying their cricket over the last three years and that’s a concern,” he said. “I want to bring the enjoyment back. There won’t be any naughty-boy nets under me, that’s for sure. It’ll be like playing with your mates again, just like it was the last time I was here.”

Yorkshire have yet to appoint a successor to Byas after Chris Adams reneged on an agreement to fill the role, in addition to the captaincy, and chose to stay at Sussex. An announcement is expected next week. Martyn Moxon, the Durham head coach who previously held the job at Yorkshire, is the latest name to be linked with the post.

One of Gough’s first tasks as captain has been an attempt to persuade Anthony McGrath, the cornerstone of the batting, to abandon his legal battle to leave the club with three years left on his contract. McGrath’s case will be heard by an independent mediator at Lord’s on Friday. “I’ve already spoken to him,” Gough said. “I told him that I want him to play here, but it’s his decision.”

The Yorkshire captaincy comes as a consolation to Gough after he narrowly failed in an unlikely bid to regain his England place for the World Cup.

Despite being left out of the initial 30-man squad, he revealed yesterday that, when England were having difficulties in the recent Commonwealth Bank series against Australia and New Zealand, the selectors suggested he still had a chance of inclusion.

“When they were struggling [in Australia] I was told that I was close to being in the World Cup squad,” he said. “Then they won their last four games and I didn’t really expect to be picked then.”

The biggest doubt about Gough’s appointment concerns his fitness, in particular the knee injuries that have blighted the latter stages of his career. “Realistically, to play every game is going to be difficult,” he said. “I’m hoping to play most of the games, but there might come a time when I have to miss the odd one.”