Jones steps up his pace to raise hopes for Test series

Welshman Jones was handed the new ball for the Cricket Club of India's second innings at the Brabourne Stadium and operated at somewhere close to full pelt in an impressive five-over spell which reaped two wickets.

Those strikes, in his first competitive match since ankle surgery last autumn, laid the foundation for a 238-run win as the hosts tumbled inside the evening session of the final day.

After hefty contributions from Marcus Trescothick and Ian Blackwell gave the English second innings respectability, the home team were faced with a target of 314.

Jones, who ambled in during the first innings, upped his intensity to gain two classic fast bowler's dismissals. A venomous yorker earned a leg before decision and a lifter around off-stump was edged straight to second slip.

Those deliveries brought back memories of the 18 wickets Jones contributed in last summer's Ashes campaign. He was certainly missed in Pakistan, and the team management have been careful with his rehabilitation since Christmas - advising him to get some mileage in his legs before charging in.

''If you speak to anyone coming back from injury they are always a little bit tender here and there,'' said coach Duncan Fletcher.

''As they make progress you just have to make sure they don't do too much.

''That's especially so with Simon - he is an individual who is flat out or nothing.

''We had to treat him with kid gloves. When he stepped it up he looked pretty effective.''

Although the opposition was nowhere near as strong as England will face in the second and final warm-up for the Tests, against an Indian Board XI in Baroda later this week, there were plenty of positives for Michael Vaughan's men.

Four of the top six expected to start the three-match Test series in Nagpur next Wednesday registered half-centuries, and all the bowlers were given a workout.

''We used the game as a practice game, and it was very satisfying from that point of view,'' said Fletcher.