England had some bad news about fast bowler Darren Gough as they got in some more batting practice against Queensland today.
Gough, already ruled out of the first Ashes Test against Australia, which starts in Brisbane on Thursday, suffered a setback to his hopes of playing in the second as he continued his recovery from his long-standing knee trouble.
The 32-year-old reported swelling and discomfort in his knee after bowling two separate spells in the nets yesterday and has been sent to the Academy in Adelaide to continue his rehabilitation.
Durham pace man Steve Harmison, who is suffering from shin splints, will make the same journey, while Alex Tudor has been called up from the Academy to provide cover for England's depleted seam resources.
Gough's chances of featuring in the remainder of the tour will depend on the speed of his recovery because there are a limited number of opportunities to test his fitness again because of the intensity of the schedule.
After Hobart the tourists play back-to-back Tests in Adelaide and Perth followed by the start of their triangular one-day series with Australia and Sri Lanka and completed by the traditional back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney at Christmas and New Year.
Coach Duncan Fletcher, who has already admitted that if Gough fails to make the starting line-up at Hobart his chances are slim of featuring in the remainder of the series, is not yet ready to rule out his talisman and is hopeful the time spent at the Academy can help Gough overcome his latest setback.
"Darren's been making good progress in his recovery from injury and it's very frustrating for him and the team that he should suffer a setback at this stage,'' admitted Fletcher.
Gough has not played a Test for England since the final meeting against Australia in August last year and, apart from 16 one-day internationals in the past 12 months, has played very little other cricket since first sustaining the injury in a one-day match against New Zealand in Dunedin on February 25.
England will be hoping Gough can make the same miraculous recovery at the Academy as Andrew Flintoff, who left the main squad to continue his rehabilitation from a hernia operation to join the Academy unable to run or bowl and was able to deliver 26 overs in the drawn match with Queensland on his return.
Michael Vaughan hit a timely 127 on his return from injury as England drew their final warm-up match before the Ashes.
The Yorkshire opener, who resumed on an overnight score of 49, was dropped four times by Queensland fielders.
Vaughan was then given good support by Mark Butcher who fell five runs short of his first half-century since his arrival in Australia. Captain Nasser Hussain made 28 before becoming Hauritz's second victim and Hampshire's John Crawley became the 20-year-old's third, registering just seven runs.
Alex Stewart was unbeaten on 30 at the end of the day's play as England, replying to the 582 amassed by Queensland in their first innings, reached 322-7 before bad light stopped play.
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