Let Me Play the Long Game, Says Gough

His tone was deliberately bullish. His face burned with the optimism of old. If there was a Test match tomorrow, Darren Gough is adamant that he would be fit for the task.

England's selectors might be understandably wary about risking Gough in the first Test against South Africa at Edgbaston next week, but his ruined knee has survived the rigours of a one-day summer and has convinced that his Test career might yet be resurrected.

"If there was a Test match tomorrow I could play," said Gough. "Until I play a Test how do I know how things would work out? I know that there are back-to-back Tests this summer, but as long as I'm not fielding for 10 days in a row I should be OK.

"It would be nice to have another crack at Test cricket at some stage. It might be a gamble. But it would be worth it."

Gough loyally suggests that James Anderson, Steve Harmison and Richard Johnson deserve a first shot at the South Africans. "If there are injuries I might get a sniff, but if not, I wouldn't expect to play," he said. But Johnson, a back catalogue of cricketing ailments, has left the field in the past week for minor groin and calf strains and England's cover is scant.

Until the knee injury that threatened to end his career, Gough was extolled as England's heartbeat. In the NatWest Series, he has been England's brain, his patience and economy providing the stability for James Anderson to play the high-risk cards at the other end.

He is vastly amused by his own common sense. "I'm bowling for James Anderson like Gus Fraser used to bowl for me. I bowl more like Gus every day, eh? I feel that it's my job to put it on the spot and let him tear-arse in and take the wickets.

"When wickets are not conducive for me to bowl quickly I'll try to do other things. At Bristol, the pitch was a bit quicker and I was thinking about trying to rattle them. But then Jimmy went for 19 in one over and I had to change my plan."

He will play for Yorkshire in the championship at Chester-le-Street tomorrow, dreaming of a last hurrah not just for himself but for Nasser Hussain, a captain he admires, and a captain now under siege since Michael Vaughan's successful implantation in the one-day game.

"I would run through a brick wall for Nasser. He has been wonderful for England. He gets the best out of his players almost by intimidating them, but he will always back you. He is a top person and a quality captain. Nasser will want to get runs. He has led England under pressure for a long time. I'm sure he can handle the pressure.

"Vaughany has surprised a lot of people. He believes in 11 captains with everybody involved. He asks everyone to contribute and things are more relaxed. He likes to have fun. He will enjoy his success, be glad of the rest and give Nasser his backing."

But this knee, which must resemble a half-excavated motorway underpass - can it really stand the strain?

"I didn't think things would go as well. I have gathered confidence throughout the series. The injury is always in my mind but I have learned to control it. I know exactly what to do to play every day. It's become a habit. I carry things around with me constantly so that I can keep the knee iced and give it compression treatment.

"One-day cricket is harder than a Test match. I still slide on my knee in the field and, with all the travelling, fitting in the daily treatment has been harder than it would be in a Test match.

"The hardest time is when I wake up at 7.30 in the morning. And training days are tough because there is no adrenalin pumping. On match days, the injury might be in my mind before I walk out, but once I start bowling I don't feel a thing."

Gough was asked if he still thought he was one of the best three fast bowlers in England? His face lit up with mock shock at the imagined slight on his ability. He was a little red fire engine on a training run.

"I'm not even going to answer that: 228 Test wickets at 27, that's not bad."

It happens to be a handful of wickets behind Andrew Caddick, team-mate and rival, chalk and cheese. That's one target he would chortle at passing.