Cricket: Gough Looks Ripe for Substitution

There was a time yesterday, in the midst of an England collapse, that a good argument could be advanced for substituting Darren Gough before he had even bowled a ball.

With four wickets lost for 45 and the pitch flattening, England had minimal chance of posting a competitive score without an extra batsman, so why not replace Gough with Vikram Solanki and then worry about the bowling later?

There were many drawbacks with this theory, the chief one being that somebody would have had to tell Gough. Much apoplexy would have ensued. And unlike Thomas the Tank Engine, another eager steamer who has kept going longer than anybody ever expected, Gough would have managed something saltier than "well blow my boilers".

England did not substitute Gough, nor any other England fast bowler, but it was not an entirely madcap idea. "Vikram was prepared to bat at one stage," Michael Vaughan admitted.

He got as far as looking for his pads. But then Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood did some window dressing with a century stand and Solanki, who in the end did not come on to field, won another one-day cap to make up for the trauma.

Had Gough been withdrawn it might have been to his benefit because by staying on he just encouraged the notion of a little red-faced fast bowler huffing and puffing into a little red sunset.

His determination to cling on for another crack at the Aussies has been admirable. The desire to be around for the 2007 World Cup is astute, as half the stadiums have not been built yet and at the current rate of progress the pitches will be laid about the time the captains are wandering out for the toss.

The statistics, though, are not in his favour. In eight one-day matches this summer, six against Australia and two against Bangladesh, he has managed only one new-ball wicket, when Matthew Hayden conveniently toe-ended a drive to Ashley Giles in the NatWest Series final at Lord's.

He thought he had got another one yesterday when he ripped out Adam Gilchrist's off stump in his first over, only for a no-ball call to cut short his celebrations. Instead, when Gilchrist's freewheeling start caused Vaughan to replace his new-ball attack, Gough and Simon Jones, after two overs each, it encapsulated England's most glaring weakness of the summer.

Gough knows as much. When he dismissed Ricky Ponting with a full toss with Australia's victory imminent, he met the token congratulations like a man who preferred not to be touched. Another no-ball to give Australia victory summed up his day.

His figures have been respectable enough, apart from one bad day at Edgbaston, which is proof of his determination and has encouraged suggestions that the best way to prolong his career is to bowl most of his overs at the death. But without new-ball wickets, one-day victories are much harder to come by. Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath place much emphasis on how they will take England wickets in the first 10 overs.

England's defeat was signalled so early that only when Flintoff was laying about him did the crowd stir.

Ten months will prove the value of substitutes, not two matches, but early indications are that winning the toss has become more crucial than ever, with the vast majority of sides tempted to bowl first and then throw on an extra batsman. The toss creates a natural imbalance without adding to it. It could cause the experiment to be abandoned at the first opportunity.