England are likely to be without Andy Caddick for the first Test against India, which begins at Lord's next Thursday, after he failed a fitness test before Somerset's C&G Trophy quarter-final against Worcestershire. Caddick is still troubled by the side strain he picked up during the third Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford last month, which also ruled him out of the NatWest Series, and Kevin Shine, his coach at Somerset, said Caddick was extremely doubtful for the Test. "He had a fitness test and didn't come through it too well," Shine said. "He still has a couple of weeks of rehab to do. There are four Tests left and maybe he can get in a couple at the end."

The loss of Caddick would be offset by the return of Darren Gough, who has not played Test cricket since last summer's Ashes series - but now Gough's return could be in doubt. The Sun newspaper said that Gough saw a specialist on Monday and was advised to rest his knee, which kept him out of the Sri Lanka series.

Gough has yet to play a four-day match this season, and needs to show the England management that he can get through 25 overs a day before the Lord's Test. Yorkshire begin a four-day match against Lancashire on Friday; if Gough does not play in that, he may struggle to make the final XI, although he will surely be named in the squad when it is announced tomorrow.

"Darren has had a heavy few weeks, and, although he got through the NatWest Series one-day matches okay, he's a little achy and sore," said Dean Conway, England's physio. "I'll speak to him to find out how he feels. It's not possible at this stage to say whether he will be okay for the Test match."

If Gough and Caddick both fail to make it, it would put great pressure on England's young seamers: Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Alex Tudor. The trio responded superbly on a flat track when Caddick limped out of the third Test against Sri Lanka, but bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and friends in searing heat could be a different matter.

If England persist with five bowlers, as they surely will, Dominic Cork or Simon Jones would be favourites to win the final spot, alongside Hoggard, Flintoff, Tudor and Ashley Giles. Even though he has a worse bowling average at Lord's than Gough and Caddick - and Phil Newport, for that matter - England have a thing for Cork and Lord's, like a fan with a lucky pair of pants: three of Cork's last four Test appearances have been there.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd