Left-arm seamer Alan Mul lally has withdrawn from England's squad for the fourth Test against West Indies at Head ingley with a thigh strain.

Mullally, recalled for the first time since the final Test against South Africa during the winter, sustained the injury during Hampshire's game against Glamorgan on Monday. England have yet to decide whether to call up a replacement to the 13-man squad.

However, as Mullally was unlikely to feature in the starting XI anyway, they are likely to stick to the 12 remaining players.

There is also another matter which will be demanding the attention of England coach Duncan Fletcher as the Test plays out. While Darren Gough is being roared through by a devoted Leeds crowd, with the series against West Indies at a critical stage, an equally passionate encounter will be fought out behind the scenes as England and Yorkshire battle for the services of the most coveted bowler in the land.

At issue is the controversial decision by Fletcher to withdraw Gough, and other selected Test players, from the climax to the County Championship season on the grounds that they need rest and recuperation before the start of an arduous winter programme.

Yorkshire will privately warn Fletcher that the decision, which was sprung on the first-class counties last month without discussion, will have disastrous consequences for the county game, as its flagging reputation can only be demeaned further.

They expect to enlist support from Surrey and Lancashire, their major title rivals, in arguing that any more damage to the status of the County Championship will automatically undermine Fletcher's attempts to raise standards at international level.

Gough is a free spirit, as bullish and opinionated as any Yorkshire fast bowler, but he knows when to keep his own counsel. "I'm saying nowt," he said yesterday.

He is conscious that the tug-of-war for his services could not come at a more uncomfortable time. The Western Terrace is likely to have a view on the matter.

Gough would love to lead Yorkshire to their first championship since 1968 and knows how much damage could be done to his folklore image if he appears reluctant. But he also has a niggle or two and is desperate to be fit and fresh enough this winter to turn round England's appalling run of failures overseas.

Yorkshire supported the introduction of central contracts, which gives England's management control over their leading players, only with considerable soul searching. Craig White and Michael Vaughan are also centrally contracted, and Matthew Hoggard, too, is in the England squad for Headingley.

Yorkshire's view is unrepentant: "The counties agreed that players might have to be rested between Tests but no one suggested that they might need a holiday at the end of the season. How can supporters take the climax to the county season seriously if the best players are missing? This undermines all our attempts to raise standards."

Central contracting of England players, although still on trial, has been widely accepted in principle but the counties will still voice their displeasure over certain aspects of the system at the next meeting of the First-Class Forum.

Several Test-match counties - although Yorkshire are not among them - privately contend that a reduction in the number of first-class counties is the only solution to an otherwise intractable country versus county dispute. As the ECB is criticised by the metropolitan counties for withdrawing their best players, so it is also regarded with deep suspicion by shire counties fearing for their survival.