England Choose Not to Risk Gough

A battle may have been lost with Darren Gough's fitness yesterday but a common-sense approach by the England management means that the war may yet be won.

The Yorkshire fast bowler's drive to be ready to open the bowling in the first Test, which begins at Brisbane's Gabba on Thursday, came to an end immediately after practice in sweltering conditions at Allan Border Field yesterday morning. It was decided that he would not be risked in the final three-day warm-up match against Queensland, which begins at the same ground this morning, thereby ruling him out of the start of the Ashes series.

Gough had been pencilled in to make his return in the match after making remarkable progress with the recovery of his knee during the first two weeks of the tour. Only five days ago he being prevented from bowling more than a handful of deliveries at slow-medium pace in order to protect the joint, but yesterday he marked out his full run and stormed in for half an hour to good effect.

England were tempted to risk a player who has scarcely bowled a delivery in a first-class match for 14 months, and whose career must have been in doubt when he underwent a third knee operation in 12 months in August.

It was a close-run thing, the England coach Duncan Fletcher admitted. "If we had had one more game before the first Test, we would have risked him against Queensland," he explained. "But it has come a match too soon.

"We don't want to rush him. He probably could have played but if he's not quite right but still plays then the guy who is going to feature in the Test and should have got a game is going to miss out and that's why we've made this decision. He's got his career ahead of him, he's a major player and we don't want to push it too much."

Instead, the more realistic target of the second Test in Adelaide, which starts on November 21, has been set for his comeback, which gives him more recovery time but nonetheless allows him only one match, the three-day game against Australia A in Hobart, to regain his sharpness.

Although Andy Flintoff, for example, spent a beneficial week at the academy in Adelaide to concentrate on regaining his fitness, Gough will remain with the side. But England hope to fix up a grade match for him during the Test in order to extend his knee further.

If Gough was disappointed with the verdict, it was not showing. "If you ask the guys I bowled against in the nets today," he said, "they would say I'm there already, but I think realistically it's the right decision not to play in this match. We've got a Test match to play and England's more important than me getting back on the field.

"If I can't get a game this winter because England are winning the Ashes back without me, I am not bothered. The guys playing against Queensland are likely to be those who play next week and they have to get some overs under their belts."

He remains critical, though, of those who doubt the effort he has put into trying to get his career back on track. "It has been a long road back," he said, "and I have been disappointed with those who have said that I was supposed to be holidaying, golfing or going out on the lash all the time. The truth is I've worked hard to get this far and I think I've surprised a few people by bowling off my long run only two weeks into the tour.

"Now it is a case of building up the number of overs I can bowl in a day. It's been a really positive start to the tour for me and I'm just pleased I'm at the stage I'm at."

Though Gough has been ruled out of contention, England are still nursing hopes that Michael Vaughan and Flintoff, neither of whom have played a match on tour, may yet prove their fitness for the Test.

Flintoff, recovering from a double hernia operation, bowled at around 80% capacity in the nets yesterday and was generally pleased with his progress. Vaughan batted impressively enough, but admitted that he is not yet able to run as well as he would like after knee surgery at the end of the season.

"I've told the England management that if we were playing a Test tomorrow I wouldn't be right," said Vaughan, "but I need a game before the first Test and it's important I do get three days' cricket under my belt. I need time in the middle with the bat, but most importantly to get a full day in the field to see how the leg responds to that."