England's selectors have placed their faith in Darren Gough's rebuilt knee after naming the Yorkshireman in the 12-man squad for the first npower Test against South Africa.

His inclusion for next week's Edgbaston encounter, the opener of a five-match series, means his two-year injury nightmare should soon be well and truly behind him.

Gough, 32, convinced the four-man selection panel of coach Duncan Fletcher, chairman of selectors David Graveney, Rod Marsh and Geoff Miller that he can get through five days of intense cricket despite having sent down only 75.4 first-class overs this season prior to Yorkshire's County Championship match with Durham which finished yesterday.

It was his impressive return to the one-day international scene this summer, however, after three major knee operations and half a dozen aborted comebacks, that fully persuaded the quartet to allow him the chance to add to his 56 caps, the last of which came in the final Ashes contest of 2001.

By the time Gough delivered a man-of-the-match performance in the crushing NatWest Series final victory over the South Africans at Lord's on Saturday, there was a groundswell of support for his recall only months after it was feared his career was over.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said yesterday: ''We looked at what we required for this first Test match - he did exceptionally well in the one-dayers and he is bowling against Durham.

''He feels he can make a contribution to the Test side and we feel we need his experience and quality to be part of our attack.''

When Gough returned home from Australia in the winter without playing on the Ashes tour, many thought the energy he exudes in an England shirt would never be witnessed again.

After his two for nine at Lord's last Saturday, which took his NatWest haul to 14 in nine innings, however, Gough was adamant he could get through the gruelling schedule a Test match demands and complete his comeback. England and Wales Cricket Board chief medical officer Peter Gregory delivered a similar opinion to the selectors yesterday.

But another long-term absentee, Surrey's Graham Thorpe, will have to wait to return after the selectors stuck with Gough's Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath.

England coach Fletcher recently spoke to Thorpe, 34 in a fortnight, about his frame of mind following a turbulent year of personal problems which led to the left-handed batsman quitting all cricket temporarily last summer and reneging on a decision to tour Australia.

A clamour developed for Thorpe's return after youngsters Robert Key and Jim Troughton failed in their appearances this summer but McGrath struck half-centuries in his first two Test innings and has been given a chance to continue his international development.

''We are obviously pleased that Graham wants to commit himself to playing for England both home and abroad,'' Graveney said. ''But we felt we wanted to show consistency to Anthony McGrath who has done nothing wrong.''

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff returns as expected, having missed the last eight Tests initially through a hernia problem and latterly a shoulder injury, and wants to start reproducing the form he has shown for England in limited-overs contests.

''I'm looking forward to getting back in there and to start improving on my Test match statistics,'' said the 25-year-old, who averages less than 20 with the bat and nearly 50 with the ball at this level.

Another change from the side that completed a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe last month was enforced by Somerset seamer Richard Johnson's latest niggle, a groin problem - James Kirtley, of Sussex, named as reserve bowler.

England squad: N Hussain (capt, Essex, age 35, caps 83), ME Trescothick (Somerset, 27, 33), MP Vaughan (Yorkshire, 28, 30), MA Butcher (Surrey, 30, 52), A McGrath (Yorkshire, 27, 2), AJ Stewart (wkt, Surrey, 40, 128), A Flintoff (Lancashire, 25, 21), AF Giles (Warwickshire, 30, 21), D Gough (Yorkshire, 32, 56), JM Anderson (Lancashire, 20, 2), SJ Harmison (Durham, 24, 7), RJ Kirtley (Sussex, 28, 0)