England ready to gamble on Gough's fitness

England 515 and 114-0 India 508 Match drawn

The great umpire in the sky got his timing just about right yesterday at The Oval. With England and India seemingly happier to hang on to earlier gains than go for the kill, the rain stopped the players bringing an excellent summer of cricket to a conclusion it did not deserve.

With honours shared at 1-1, both Nasser Hussain and Sourav Ganguly seemed happy to shake hands and bring a tame end to what has been a fiercely fought series. Each can look back on a good summer's work and both will feel they have made progress, but it was the Indian captain who left Kennington the happier man and with the higher credibility rating.

In coming back from 1-0 down, this series has been a huge success for Ganguly. The 30-year-old came to England with people questioning his captaincy and his capability with the bat. By drawing the Test series, winning the one-day series and averaged 58.5, he has more than proved his doubters wrong.

In a summer dominated by the bat, the two stars of the show have been Michael Vaughan and Rahul Dravid. In a tit for tat exchange during this fourth Test, both these elegant right-handers passed 1,000 runs this calendar year. They also sailed past 600 runs in a rubber in which they ended up averaging more than 100. Each won their relative player of the series award and both had summers they will never forget, such was the style in which they dominated their opponents.

For England and Hussain it has been a hard, busy summer when the weight of injuries eventually took their toll. A win here would have sealed an excellent home season for England and put them in good stead for the Ashes this November.

Defending criticism that his captaincy was negative during this Test, Hussain said: "Some may say I was like Brearley on Thursday and like Captain Cock-up on Monday. I have to take the criticism and the plaudits but all I do is try and win Test matches for England.

"With the exception of Headingley, which was an out of the norm performance, we have played a lot of good cricket this summer and this is the most positive England side I have captained going into an Ashes series. Our fast bowling options in Australia are going to be the key and as long as we can get our bowling attack fit and raring to go we have a good chance."

This morning David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, will announce the England squad that he and his fellow selectors feel has the best chance of regaining the Ashes.

The two whose selection will be most eagerly awaited are Graham Thorpe and Darren Gough. Regarded by many as England's leading batsman and bowler, both have had traumatic years, but reading between the lines it appears the selectors will give them one last opportunity to restart their international careers. Nobody would dispute that they should tour if they are physically and mentally fit as both are admired by, and have excellent records against, Australia. But they are not and the selectors are risking reputations in selecting this pair.

England will announce 17 names to accommodate the uncertainty of Gough, who has had three operations on his right knee this summer. It will be hard for him to prove his fitness before the first Test in Brisbane, and in attempting to do this another bowler runs the risk of being thrown in raw at the last minute should Gough break down days before it. But this is something he needs to do, having failed to successfully come through a first-class game for over a year.

There must also still be doubts over Thorpe's state of mind following his decision to take a full rest from cricket in order to sort out his family life. Apparently he has won over the selectors. But actions speak louder than words and it is inevitable that the cause of his problems will raise their head at some stage, and it is how this affects the team that will concern the selectors.

Once in Australia the feeling is that England will attempt to blow away Steve Waugh's side with pace. There can be little doubt that pace is an asset but only if it is combined with control. One only has to look at the best fast bowlers in the world to see that pace is not everything. Nobody gets their wickets cheaper than Glenn McGrath and Shaun Pollock.

However, after encouraging debuts for Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison, both can expect good news today. It is inconceivable they will play in a Test together but they will rough up the odd Aussie or two, which is something to look forward to.

With Richard Dawson likely to win the second spinner's spot and James Foster there in case anything happens to Alec Stewart, the only other area of contention is batting. Thorpe's reappearance means that someone will miss out and this could well be Robert Key. The place up for grabs currently belongs to John Crawley. Since his hundred against India at Lord's, he has struggled and a poor record against Australia will not help his cause. Challenging are Mark Ramprakash, who averages 42 against Australia, Nick Knight, who has had an excellent summer and any one of Ian Bell, James Troughton or Key.

With the Academy squad bound for Adelaide also to be announced, there may be a temptation to fill this with stand-by players like Dawson, Foster or Jones. This would be wrong because nothing undermines the spirit of a squad more than the constant turnover of players. If England are to succeed it will be through using the main party, not those in Rod Marsh's capable hands.

FOURTH NPOWER TEST (The Oval): England 515 (M P Vaughan 195, M E Trescothick 57, M A Butcher 54, D G Cork 52; Harbhajan Singh 5-115) and 114 for 0 (M E Trescothick 58 no); India 508 (R Dravid 217, S R Tendulkar 54, S C Ganguly 51, A R Caddick 4-114). Match abandoned as a draw.

Possible Ashes squad

N Hussain (capt), M Butcher, A Caddick, J Crawley, R Dawson, A Flintoff, J Foster, A Giles, D Gough, S Harmison, M Hoggard, S Jones, A Stewart, G Thorpe, M Trescothick, A Tudor, M Vaughan.