Jones Draws Blood As Return Gets Closer

Simon Jones has spent 15 months sweating tears. Yesterday he spilt blood.

It was lunchtime during the Academy's disastrous first one-day international against India A at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Jones was practising, "at about 85-90%", off his full run-up. His first delivery flew off the outstretched baseball glove of the team physio Stuart Osborne and into his left eyebrow. Osborne staggered off for stitches but Duncan Fletcher will be delighted.

"He was taking it too casual," joked Jones afterwards. Taking it casual is something the bowler has forgotten all about. On November 7, 2002, his world fell apart - to say nothing of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee - when he was carried off the field in the first Ashes Test at Brisbane after a sliding stop went horribly wrong.

Last night the Academy management were optimistic that Jones would be making his comeback in today's one-day international. "I just want to get back on the field," he said. The whole of England and Wales want him there too.

The road to recovery has been a bumpy one. It began with depression (Jones says he seriously considered his options outside cricket but could not think of any); gave way to determination; and has ended up in excitement. He has played at venues as far afield as Panteg and Kuala Lumpur. And travel has most definitely broadened the mind.

"I get annoyed now when I hear people moaning about little materialistic things," he says in his lyrical Welsh accent. "And I'm thinking, well, I could have lost my career here and you're moaning about not having any water, or something like that. Just get on with it. Your career could end so quickly. You don't realise what you've got until you're made to lose it."

What Jones now has, even more than before, is the desire to bowl fast ("maybe 95mph") and have some fun.

The target remains the first Test in Jamaica, starting on March 11, but Jones is not get ting carried away. "This is the first time I've bowled off the long run since I've been away," he said after yesterday's practice. "It was coming out right. But the Windies tour isn't the be-all and end-all."

Even so the thought of bowling in the Caribbean with his mate Steve Harmison raises a smile. "It will be a great attack, because we're different types of bowlers and we complement each other," he purrs. "He's quicker than Caddy [Andrew Caddick] but he's that kind of bowler - he gets bounce. And I'm more like Goughy, more skiddy." An all-firing pace attack of Harmison, Jones, James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff is the dream that might yet become a reality.

The joint can still feel stiff because of tightness around the scar tissue but Jones is "easy with it" and claims the knee has never been stronger. And when he does return to Test cricket, the public will see a revamped model. "I've been trying to simplify my action, a bit like Brett Lee's. We're closing everything off, getting it straighter, rather than me falling away. It's definitely helped my accuracy and I feel stronger for it". Meanwhile, his more rhythmical approach to the crease - the product of several years' pre-season work with his compatriot Lynn Davies, the former Olympic long-jump gold medallist - has meant a slightly longer run-up of 18 yards, three more than at the Brisbane Test, but 12 more than at the start of the 2002 summer.

The physical agony of that moment in Australia still haunts Jones. "I never ever want to feel that again," he says. "And I've got to the stage now where I'm not thinking about it." The reminders, though, are everywhere. A member of the public wrote to Jones with advice on how to slide; and when a hobbling Indian player has to be helped off the field, Jones is genuinely concerned.

But the positive thoughts far outweigh the negative ones. "Give me a couple of games and I'll find my rhythm," he says. The Academy needs him - Rod Marsh was fuming last night after his team was brushed aside by India A. "We were completely outplayed," the Academy coach said. "And if you want to write anything else, you're going to have to make it up."

The Academy have lost three games in four days and things are unlikely to get any easier against a side that yesterday boasted six full internationals to England's Ed Smith. The most competitive moment of the day came when a gang of stray dogs fought out a noisy but tense battle in the empty concrete terracing. The final margin of 55 runs flattered England.

After being put into bat on a belter, India A racked up 324 for four in 50 overs, thanks largely to a second-wicket stand of 209 between Dinesh Mongia, who hit a glittering century, and Sridharan Sriram.

Smith and Matt Prior, the Sussex wicketkeeper-batsman, added 73 for the first wicket in reply, but a collapse of five for 40 turned the game into a non-contest. Graham Napier smashed 61 but the horse had long bolted.