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

``To be honest, I thought my tour was over when I came off,'' Gough said today. ``But it's been an unbelievable recovery. I'm confident of playing, but obviously I haven't bowled flat out in practice.''

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

``I can't have torn my hamstring, otherwise I would not have been able to bowl in the nets,'' Gough said. ``I'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.''

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 Thursday's reserve day.

While England captain Alec Stewart is happy his key bowler is available for England'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 -- a sequence of 0, 24, 8, 17, 20, 39, 6, 0 and 25.

England'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. ``The ultimate goal 18 months ago was to make sure we had a side who could win the World Cup,'' Stewart said. ``And we definitely think we are going along the right lines. I know what my World Cup squad is.''