On your Marks, get set...

Mark Ramprakash's high fitness levels will help in the contest

Mark Ramprakash has acknowledged that he didn’t realise quite how big a task he was taking on after following Darren Gough into the world of ballroom dancing.

The 37 year-old Surrey batsman has agreed to appear on the new series of entertainment show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ after his wife and daughter persuaded him to give it a go.

It isn’t Ramprakash’s first foray into live television, as Sky Sports have used him as a studio expert during their winter cricket coverage, but unlike Gough, he isn’t one who deliberately goes out looking for the limelight.

He admits that he is quite surprised by how much outside media interest there is in the programme.

“People who know me know it is not the sort of thing I would take on," he told ecb.co.uk. "But I’ve decided to do it and I suppose you have got to throw yourself into it and take whatever comes with it.

"When I said yes I didn’t realise how big the show was, that it has eight to ten million viewers, so that was a bit of a shock.”

Ramprakash is looking forward to the challenge of performing away from the cricket pitch, but doesn’t see himself as being out to prove anything or compete with Gough’s success.

Darren Gough has a bubbly personality which suits live TV

“I’m not really sure what will come out of it," he added. "Darren Gough did brilliantly last year when he got all the way to the final and won it.

“Darren’s personality really shone through. He was just himself and he went down so well. I don’t hope to compete with him in that respect. For me, I suppose, it is just the chance to do something different.”

“I’ve got to try to be myself, have some fun with the dancing, enjoy the environment, learn a bit and enjoy the experience.”

Ramprakash has a varied perception in the public eye after the media exposure during his international cricket career, but this is something that no longer bothers him and he isn’t trying to change anything by appearing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

“It has always been the case - you can’t influence what the media are going to say. You have just got to get on and in some respects be thick-skinned and do what you have to do,” he admitted.

This will be a useful trait to have, especially in front of judges Arlene Phillips and Craig Revel-Horwood who aren’t known for being sparing in their criticism of contestants.

Mark Ramprakash is used to winning matches, not votes

But Gough managed to charm his way into their good books and Ramprakash said he would be talking to him to see how he got as far as he did.

“I am going to be ringing Darren very soon - letting him tell me all about how he did it and the way he progressed throughout the tournament. Any advice that he can give me is welcome,” the prolific run-maker added.

Where Gough is large and bulky in build, Ramprakash is small, toned and elegant. Their dancing styles are almost certainly going to be equally as different, but the batsman is likely to edge ahead in the technical stakes.

“I’m going to have to let other people be the judge of that,” he said modestly. “We are starting off with the cha-cha-cha as our first dance. We’ve got a really good routine. It’s just a question of whether I can pull it off.

“I’ve been working hard, and if we put it together we have high hopes that it will come over well.”

The fourth series of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ starts on Saturday October 7 on BBC One.