Cricket: Wharf's Arrival May Spell End for Gough

Another new toy took his place in the playpen on Wednesday, and today will no doubt be given a second crack at India's formidable array of batting at The Oval, with England already one win to the good in the three-match NatWest Challenge series.

Alex Wharf, head glinting in the bright sunshine, pounded his way to a three-wicket haul and the headlines at Trent Bridge. Steve Harmison's hat-trick scarcely got a look in as England's Champions Trophy ambitions were given a boost by a seven-wicket margin.

Good for Wharf and for an England set-up that offers a familial atmosphere in which anyone with something to offer is welcomed with open arms. But woe betide a show pony: Andrew Flintoff would see to that, probably by hanging him by his collar from a coatpeg.

So the Yorkshire-born Glamorgan player relished the opportunity. From the first ball, with hardly a note of tentativeness, he looked the part. His success was no fluke.

In the circumstances it was a good selection, although those who chose him would do well not to preen too much. Like Andrew Strauss and Robert Key, he owed his inclusion to the misfortune of others rather than intuition, and if they knew he could do that why was he not there in the first place?

In point of fact, though, both parties struck it lucky. The conditions were ideal for a seam bowler who hits the deck and bowls straight. Wharf has an uncomplicated method, with no frills and little to go wrong.

Arguably his is the best action in the side - Darren Gough's aside - repeating like the best golf swings. One suspects that his bad days would not be as damaging as other bowlers. Sound basics are a great fall-back.

That said, we should hold back on undue praise for this represented the first few steps on what may be a considerable journey involving less pleasant circumstances. He was fortunate with the conditions and that India's batsmen, by Sourav Ganguly's tacit admission, underestimated his effectiveness and suffered accordingly. They may not make the same mistake again.

Further, for all the welcome success, what does it really show us? So far, it demonstrates only that he can take wickets in certain conditions, but not that he can do so more effectively than James Anderson, sitting on the pavilion balcony and wondering what further twists there will be to his career.

He is a different operator to Wharf, a swinger of the new ball rather than someone who bangs it on to the seam. But as the young India pacemen showed, there was plenty of swing there too. So there is little reason to suppose that Anderson, had he been given the new ball on Wednesday, would not have taken wickets as well.

But this is not the full story. Wharf was not brought in just to bowl but with a reputation as a robust batsmen with two first-class centuries, and until we see how well he shapes up with the bat the picture will be incomplete.

There is a solution and it is one England must face sooner rather than later. Gough bowled enthusiastically and well enough at Trent Bridge, and his ability to understand what and when to bowl the variety of delivery at his disposal should things go pearshaped is second to none in the England side. But his wicket-taking ability, especially with the new ball, is diminishing as the edge goes from his pace: just 10 wickets in his last 13 games. At the risk of repetition, it is unlikely in the extreme that he will be around for the 2007 World Cup as one might expect of Anderson, Jones, Sajid Mahmood, or even Wharf. And there are few games, relatively, between now and then.

England may have beaten India on Wednesday but they are not protecting a position of pre-eminence in the one-day game. They are trying to build a new side from a duff old one and it is hard to see how the old warhorse can be part of that. They have to move things on.

England (from): MP Vaughan (capt), ME Trescothick, VS Solanki, AJ Strauss, A Flintoff, PD Collingwood, GO Jones (wicketkeeper), AG Wharf, AF Giles, SJ Harmison, JM Anderson, D Gough, A McGrath, GJ Batty.

India (from): SC Ganguly (capt), V Sehwag, VVS Laxman, R Dravid (wicketkeeper), Y Singh, M Kaif, R Gavaskar, AB Agarkar, IK Pathan, A Kumble, L Balaji, A Nehra, H Singh.

Umpires: MR Benson & DB Hair; Third umpire: NJ Llong, Match referee: MJ Procter.

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