Jones delays Caribbean departure

Confusion reigns over the fitness of Simon Jones, who has been suffering from sore shins since his exertions with the England A team in India.

As far as Duncan Fletcher was concerned, Jones was due to fly out to Jamaica on Friday, after successfully passing a fitness test at the ECB Academy in Loughborough on Thursday afternoon. But it has since been decided by Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB's chief medical officer, that Jones ought to remain in England to undergo a further bone scan.

"Simon has soreness in his left shin from bowling in India," explained Gregory. "This is a recurrence of a problem which he has had earlier in his career. A precautionary MRI scan was taken yesterday and showed no sign of recent bone injury. In order to provide further re-assurance to Simon, however, it was decided that he undergo a bone scan this evening."

Earlier, England's chairman of selectors David Graveney told the BBC that they will not risk playing Jones if he is only half-fit. "We have learned our lessons from previous times trying to cut corners with injured players," he admitted. "If he has got a stress fracture then obviously that would cause problems, so we have identified standbys. All I can say is that it isn't Richard Johnson or Andrew Caddick as they are recovering from injury."

Jones, who recently returned from a 15-month lay-off following his horrific knee injury during the Ashes tour, made an impressive return on the England A tour, and even picked up a ten-wicket haul against Tamil Nadu. Despite his long absence, he has already been earmarked for a pivotal role in England's Test plans.

"It's exciting having him back on board," said Fletcher, on hearing that Jones's MRI scan had shown no damage. "If you have a look at our bowling attack, these are the guys that we've identified to take England through the next three or four years and there's a lot there." But, he added, people should not expect too much, too soon, from Jones. "There's quite a big jump from the competition he's been playing in India to facing West Indies at home, and we've got to make sure we ease him in in the right manner."