India Batsmen Play Hardball With the Rules, Says Gough

Darren Gough has accused India's batsmen of stretching the rules to the limit during Saturday's successful run chase in the one-day final against England, comments which are sure to add spice to the coming Test series.

The Yorkshire quick bowler said that India, by requesting a change of white ball after claiming they could no longer see the original because it was grass-stained, got a harder ball which was easier to hit to the boundary.

"It's a tactic used to try and gain an advantage at the expense of the bowler," Gough claimed. "We had got over the initial 15-over slog, the ball had softened up, we were getting a bit of reverse swing and we felt we were on top. Suddenly you are given a harder ball which fizzes along the ground and you concede more runs.

"The number of times the white ball is changed is becoming an increasing problem. The batsmen complain they can't see it once it gets some grass stains on it, but that's rubbish.

"I'm not blaming India - most countries do it - but the authorities need to address the situation because it will scar next year's World Cup otherwise. This is another example of batsmen being allowed to manipulate the rules."

Gough, who had surgery on his right knee during March and is still easing himself back into full-time cricket, added that he hoped to play for Yorkshire in today's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter- final against Essex as he tries to build up fitness for the four-Test series, which begins at Lord's on Thursday week.

"I am in the strange situation of wanting more games but also needing a rest," he said. "I don't want to push my knee too hard but I also need to get some four-day cricket under my belt to put myself in line for a place in the Test team."

And reflecting on Graham Thorpe's retirement from the international one-day game at the age of 32 to concentrate on Test cricket and his children, Gough said the Surrey batsman might be the first of many. "I believe Graham has made the right decision, one more and more players will be forced into over the next few years.

"In the next few months we have a Test series against India, a one-day tournament in Sri Lanka, an Ashes series in Australia, the World Cup and then a new domestic season. That kind of scheduling is bound to cause problems and in the future I don't see many players' careers extending beyond four or five years.

"An international player at both Test and one-day levels will probably get a maximum of four weeks off in any 12-month period. The strain on the body alone is enormous and it is going to get harder and harder."

One man who will not be featuring in the Test series is India's Yuvraj Singh, who fractured a finger in Saturday's final and has been ruled out of the reckoning as a late addition to the 16-man squad.

Yuvraj, 20 and still to make his Test debut, is now expected to go back to India to convalesce but Mohammad Kaif, 21 and with four Tests to his name, will be under consideration at today's selection meeting. "We now hope he [Yuvraj] would be available for the ICC Champions Cup tournament in Colombo [in September]," said an Indian board official.