"If I don't play in the World Cup, which I'm not at this moment in time unless something silly happens, I'm not going to play," he told Sportsweek.

"There's no need for me to retire because they're not going to pick me again after the World Cup full stop.

"Realistically, if they pick me again after this World Cup, I think it would be stupid anyway."

Gough said he was as enthusiastic as ever about the game but insisted he was not angry he was not going to the West Indies for the World Cup.

"I'm not bitter at all. It's definitely a huge disappointment but I'm over it," he said.

"There's been a lack of communication this winter with myself and whoever it may be, whether it be Duncan Fletcher and David Graveney, but I wish the lads well.

"I want England to win the World Cup. I'm an England supporter in all sports."

England go into the tournament on the back of winning the CB Series in Australia and Gough believes they can have a successful campaign.

"There are a lot of ifs and buts in there but we've got some good players," he said.

"Our batting line-up is one of the best three in the world.

"We bat all the way down to [Paul] Nixon coming in at eight, who's enthusiastic. He can be useful down that order.

"The bowlers are all inexperienced but there are some very good bowlers.

"They all bowl at a good pace and if they get it right on the day they will bowl out teams.

"England could upset quite a few teams and you never know, we could sneak into the semi-finals."

Gough has just agreed to move back to Yorkshire from Essex and he is relishing the chance to captain the county where he started his career.

"Yorkshire kept chasing me and everywhere I seemed to go in the world I bumped into Geoffrey Boycott and he kept pestering me -- I couldn't turn it down in the end," he said.