As for Anderson, however, it's hard to see where or how he can be given a game. Gough, 34, makes regular trips to Germany to be injected with a natural substance that is helping to keep his knee flexible enough for fast bowling.
If only something could be given to Anderson, 22, to take away all those doubts and leave him feeling full of confidence - just like he was a couple of years ago after leaping from Burnley second XI into England's World Cup squad in not much more than a blink of an eye.
Some people might wonder now whether Anderson was just a media myth or a kid who got lucky for a few weeks without having that much ability.
But if those thoughts are forming then they should listen to Gough.
"I've never seen any bowler anywhere in the world who can bowl like Jimmy Anderson can," said the Yorkshireman. "He bowls balls that leave you wondering how he does it.
"He swings the ball so late. It looks like it's going down the leg side and it clips off stump."
The trouble is, at the moment, too many of those deliveries just keep going the way they start off.
Having made only one disappointing Test appearance this winter, England hoped he would bowl himself into one-day contention during last week's warm-up match against South Africa A. Instead, nine painful overs cost 65 runs.
"We all know Jimmy's got that natural talent, he's just lacking in a bit of confidence at the minute," said Gough. "If he comes out of this he will be a lot stronger and a lot better bowler. You have to get out of it, and he will do. One game and one wicket can turn it around.
"I'm sure that confidence will come when he gets back to Lancashire and plays a run of games. We all know that's what he needs - I'm sure he knows that as well."
It was grand to hear Gough back to his bubbly best after bowling so well in Kimberley and Johannesburg, talking about how much he is enjoying his cricket and hoping to last until the 2007 World Cup.
But he and England know it will be tough for them to win this series without Andrew Flintoff.
Still, if South Africa keep messing up their selections, as they did in Johannesburg when the in-form Abraham de Villiers was inexplicably excluded, anything is possible.
