Jones keen to prove his worth

Simon Jones is determined to prove his worth, after being named as England's probable 16th player for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

"It's a big thing for me because I've worked so hard over the last five or six months," said Jones, who hasn't played for England since rupturing his knee ligaments in a horrific fielding accident on the last Ashes tour. "England have been great to me by dangling this carrot in front of me - it's up to me to take it.

"I'm a lot fitter than I was before the injury," added Jones. "I've also worked on my general fitness, which I needed to. I'm feeling stronger and I've worked a lot more on my legs to build up my strength in the muscles around the knee joint."

Jones played no cricket for 10 months, before making a tentative comeback for Glamorgan's 2nd XI towards the end of last season. He has since been hard at work at the new England Academy in Loughborough, and will be touring India in February with the A team.

The India trip will be an important stepping-stone in his rehabilitation. "I've never played there before, but it's something I'm looking forward to," he said. "I had a chat with Darren Gough when we were out in Australia last year and he was saying it is a good place to go and learn how to bowl quick.

"You can't just run in and bowl at 100mph every ball out there," he admitted. "You have to do something else with it. I can reverse the ball which should be perfect in those dusty conditions and hopefully I can learn and come back a better player. I've looked at my bowling action and that's coming on really nicely and feels good.

Assuming he comes through unscathed, Jones will join England's 15-man party, which flies to the Caribbean on 25 February.