Gough confident of taking field in final

SYDNEY, FEB 9: England paceman Darren Gough says he has made an unbelievable'' recovery from a hamstring strain and expects to take his...

SYDNEY, FEB 9: England paceman Darren Gough says he has made an 8220;unbelievable8221; recovery from a hamstring strain and expects to take his place in the opening limited overs tri-series final against Australia tomorrow.

Gough bowled just five of his 10 overs in the final qualifying match before leaving the field as a precaution.

8220;To be honest, I thought my tour was over when I came off,8221; Gough said today. 8220;But it8217;s been an unbelievable recovery. I8217;m confident of playing, but obviously I haven8217;t bowled flat out in practice.8221;

Gough and batsman Neil Fairbrother, who also suffered a hamstring injury, are both expected to play against a red hot Australian team.

8220;I can8217;t have torn my hamstring, otherwise I would not have been able to bowl in the nets,8221; Gough said. 8220;I8217;ve bowled a lot of overs on the tour. That had a lot to do with it. The hamstring started to tighten up and something was about to go wrong.8221;

Gough may have to wait an extra day to get a bowl at the Aussies. Bad weather is threateningto take the first of three finals into Thursday8217;s reserve day.

While England captain Alec Stewart is happy his key bowler is available for England8217;s bid to finish the Australian tour with a piece of silverware, he might need to lift his own game. The 35-year-old captain is still looking for a half-century after nine innings 8212; a sequence of 0, 24, 8, 17, 20, 39, 6, 0 and 25.

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England8217;s four defeats out of five after winning its opening two games is hardly the right form level going into the climax of the competition. 8220;The ultimate goal 18 months ago was to make sure we had a side who could win the World Cup,8221; Stewart said. 8220;And we definitely think we are going along the right lines. I know what my World Cup squad is.8221;