Whatever the outcome of the first Test between England and South Africa, currently being played out at Edgbaston, the selectors were absolutely right to keep faith with Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath and not yield to the temptation of recalling Graham Thorpe instead.

But what about their decision to bring back Darren Gough after a two-year absence from the Test scene because of serious knee problems?

The jury must still be out on that one, even if Gough emerges from Edgbaston having added more scalps to the 228 he already has under his belt from 56 Tests at a very creditable 27 runs apiece.

Everyone was taken by surprise - including the player himself - when McGrath was called up for his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in May, but the batsman soon showed he was technically and temperamentally up for the job by crafting a stylish 69 out of England's total of 472 before chipping in with three quick wickets for 16 runs in Zimbabwe's second innings.

England won by an innings and 92 runs and just to prove his performance had been no fluke, McGrath weighed in with his country's top score of 81 in the second Test at Chester-le-Street, which also brought an innings victory.

There is little doubt that Michael Vaughan had brought his influence to bear on McGrath's original inclusion as an emergency replacement for Andy Flintoff, so perhaps it was not too surprising when McGrath stayed on the international scene for the one-day tournament against Pakistan followed by the triangular NatWest Series.

His own form in these matches was average, with some successes and some failures, but he continued to be a member of a winning team, England overcoming Pakistan 2-1 and then thrashing South Africa by seven wickets in the NatWest final, McGrath being at the wicket with Flintoff when the winning runs were hit.

England's management team would like to put the side's improvement so far this season down to central contracts, but the truth is that the emergence of McGrath as an international player is due entirely to the structure of county cricket, so often derided and belittled these days by the ECB and many of the former first-class cricketers now turned into media pundits.

Yorkshire members and fans already knew that McGrath can ooze class as a batsman even though they would also be prepared to admit that inconsistency in the middle and time out through injury has resulted in him scoring fewer runs than he should have done in the Championship in recent years.

But because he was not on a central contract, his England ambitions may well have slipped away if unusual circumstances had not given him a break.

To have gone back to Thorpe just because he now wishes to wear an England cap again and to have deserted McGrath would have been a backward step and coach Duncan Fletcher and chairman of selectors David Graveney are to be congratulated on sticking with the Yorkshireman.

Their decision to do so may also suggest that although Nasser Hussain is still England's Test captain his influence is starting to slip and Vaughan's become ever stronger. Can the time be far off when Vaughan takes over the Test captaincy from the present incumbent?

McGrath may be in favour with England at the moment but that should not mean he is entitled to feel his place is safe whatever his form.

If he can be classed as a product of the county system then so can Kent's Ed Smith who last week became the first player to reach 1,000 runs in the Championship. Smith has rolled off century after century over the past few weeks and his chance of an England cap must come soon if his run bonanza continues.

Gough, of course, is still a big match player and always will be but it was his reputation rather than his first class form which persuaded England to bring him back at Edgbaston.

He looked quite ordinary against Durham at Riverside when he managed only two wickets for 145 runs in a match which Yorkshire lost by three wickets after appearing odds on favourites to win.

Gough wasted no time in saying that he had proved his critics wrong in fighting his way back to Test cricket and as usual he blamed sections of the media for suggesting that his Test career was over.

Gough can often think quite wrongly that people are getting at him just because they question his fitness to keep going at Test level and he certainly needs more than one Test to show that he is as strong as ever.

The fact that he constantly needs ice on his knee and other regular treatment suggests that he is not 100 per cent cured yet and he will be required to get through the whole of the series with South Africa if he is to feel confident that he still has a few years left in him at the top.

Updated: 10:49 Saturday, July 26, 2003