Paul Terry has confirmed that Hampshire are NOT in the hunt for Darren Gough.

Hampshire skipper Shane Warne is known to be a big fan of Gough from past Ashes battles but team manager Terry reiterated his commitment to youth in explaining his decision not to try and sign the former England talisman.

Terry said: "If his fitness is good, Darren Gough is be an asset to most sides, but we're trying to encourage the younger guys that we've got to see what they're made of, so Goughie is not a player that we're pursuing."

Warwickshire are the favourites to sign Gough, who wants to play for a first-class county as near as possible to his Bucking-hamshire home.

Meanwhile, Terry has been unable to find out whether Warne wants to play one-day international cricket again as it has been difficult to contact the leg spinner following the death of his coach at Victoria, David Hookes.

Warne was due to return to a Victoria side coached by Hookes when his ban for taking a banned diuretic expires in three weeks' time

But instead he will be returning to action for his state side with he and his teammates mourning the tragic death of 48-year-old Hookes, who died from head injuries suffered in a Melbourne bar earlier this week.

Warne has proposed a cricketing tribute for the former Australia batsman.

He said: "A medal or cricket scholarship named after him would be justice to him because he had such a great influence on everybody.

"No matter what happened, every time we had a chat, he just loved talking about cricket. He was just so knowledgeable about the game."

Former Australia batsman Hookes played 23 Tests and was on course to lead Victoria - who are top of the Pura Cup standings - to their first first-class title since 1991 in only his second season as the state's coach. A 21-year-old hotel bouncer has been charged with assault in connection with the incident and released on bail.