Death and Glory

They are figures that not even a proficient self-publicist like Darren Gough could put a positive spin on: 44-2-220-1.

Since the start of last summer that is Gough's record with the new ball in one-day internationals: strike-rate 264, economy-rate 5, average 220. One wicket in 10 games. Yet Gough still tells anyone who will listen, and many who won't, that he is among the best 11 one-day players in England.

And he's right. Because there is another aspect to Gough's performance since the start of last summer - his figures when bowling at the death. Between overs 31 and 50, Gough's record is 26.3-0-163-8: strike-rate 19.88, economy-rate 6.15, average 20.38. Every bit as good as he thinks he is.

The problem is that, at the moment, England are generally using Gough in two spells: new ball and old ball. But with a hard, shiny ball, landed invitingly on a length, Gough is about as dazzling as a blindfold: without the nip of old he has become absolute fodder for good batsmen, a wheezing, ageing medium-pacer who merely serves to put the puff in powder-puff, and who accepts his fate with a timidity hitherto unseen from one so naturally cocky. In short, he offers neither economy nor wicket-taking threat.

With the old ball, however, it really is a whole different ball game: Gough, the finest exponent of reverse-swing in England's history, knows that this is his stage. The chest is puffed out, the length is increased, the pace is constantly changed. And whereas younger, meeker men cower, Gough thrives on the battle of will and skill with batsmen trying to smack his bowling, and his career, into oblivion. His ability to consistently take wickets helps stall the opposition's momentum and, most of all, he does not panic when the leather starts to fly, a quality almost unique among English bowlers. He is a rare example of death and glory.

There is an increasingly compelling argument which suggests that England should use Gough exclusively in the slog overs, where he is so accomplished. Death bowling is his speciality, so why shouldn't he be a specialist death bowler? There are obvious physical concerns over Gough bowling such an extended spell, but the presence of someone like Paul Collingwood means that he would rarely have to bowl a full 10 overs off the reel. If he could consistently give England figures of, say, 6-0-40-3, he will be able to justify his place, something he is palpably not doing at the moment.

Such a policy would also allow England, presuming everyone is fit, to open with the largely unhittable Andrew Flintoff and either James Anderson or Stuart Broad, both of whom provide a genuine wicket-taking threat. Steve Harmison would come on first-change, where he is at his most toxic in one-day cricket and where, crucially, he is less likely to have his startlingly fragile confidence dented by a new-ball assault. Chuck in some thrifty spin from Ian Blackwell in the middle overs, bring back Flintoff to partner Gough for the slog overs, and England suddenly have a one-day attack which looks somewhere close to world-class.

All they have to do then is sort out the batting.