Darren Gough suffered a broken index finger on his right hand to bring an abrupt end to his return to Test cricket.

And it will rule him out of Yorkshire's crucial Benson & Hedges Cup semi-final against Essex at Headingley on Tuesday.

The fast bowler was struck on the right hand by Allan Donald as England batted on in fading light to reach 462 on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at Edgbaston and he will be out of action for three to four weeks.

Gough was injured after England refused an offer to go off for bad light.

He was struck by a lifting Donald delivery when on five and although he continued his innings to reach an unbeaten 16, he twice needed treatment from Yorkshire and England physiotherapist Wayne Morton.

Gough was accompanied by Morton to the hospital for X-rays on his right index finger but coach David Lloyd conceded: "It is a massive blow.

"It's a tremendous disappointment for him and the rest of the team and it puts the onus on the rest of the seamers and Robert Croft for the remainder of this Test match.

"For all sorts of reasons, we have not been able to field what we would regard as our best team for the past year, but we just have to get on with it. We still have three pace bowlers with Mark Butcher in support and Robert Croft to call on."

But Lloyd defended the decision not to take the offer of bad light, stressing: "We said that if it was only two or three lights then we would stay on unless it was absolutely pitch black and then we would come off.

"I don't think it was a gamble to bat on - there was no hint of it being too dark to bat. Goughie was in a lot of pain but I was pleased at the same time that our number 10 and number 11 had a bit of fun against two bowlers that gave it their all."

Asked how disappointed Gough was to suffer an injury like that in his first Test for nearly a year, Lloyd replied: "It's very unfortunate this game - it can be very cruel and it's a massive disappointment for the lad, but he will bounce back as he always does - it's not the end of the world."

Lloyd also disagreed with critics who claimed England had lost their momentum by scoring only 213 runs in the day and lost nine wickets, claiming: "We have been put into bat on a pitch that is going sideways so that score is excellent.

"There were two slips in the ring for a lot of the time and the ball was moving about so I think our score was realistic on that pitch - I'm absolutely delighted to get 462 on the board."

South African coach Bob Woolmer said: "It was a fine performance to come back and take nine wickets for 213 runs after the first day but after you put a team in you would be looking to bowl them out for 200 to 230 runs.

"I thought we bowled well for periods but the ball swung extravagantly. It was hard to bowl on that wicket but if we can bat well and make England bat again maybe we make a game of it."

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