England are on course to field their top four fast bowlers in the first Test match next week after Simon Jones came through the opening tour game unscathed.

Although Indian conditions traditionally suit spin and will undoubtedly aid the home attack, it would be a surprise if England did not utilise their own strengths and employ the quartet of quicks at Nagpur.

Jones, aged 27, showed what the tourists missed in Pakistan before Christmas when he was recovering from ankle surgery. Regardless of the opposition's standard, the five-over burst with the new ball contained glimpses of the old venom at near-maximum capacity.

"I was not far off full," said Jones, on his second-innings spell in Monday's 238-run victory over the Cricket Club of India at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. "It was my first run-out for a while and it went as well as I could have hoped.

"Obviously, the rhythm and my timing could get better, but that is understandable."

Jones' approach to the crease in the first innings had been no more than a trot, a precautionary measure after six months on the sidelines. But the ankle which was operated on in the autumn passed its MOT and Jones

added: "It is feeling strong. It was obviously nice to take the new ball; after the lay-off, it was just good to play in a game again, to see the slips there and the wicketkeeper stood behind the stumps."

While Jones is the least experienced of England's pace pack - Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison have 501 Test wickets among them - they are a more potent force with him in the side.

Injuries have been cruel since Jones made his debut against the Indians in 2002 but, of the 18 Tests he has played, England have won 11 and lost only three, one being the Ashes opener in Brisbane when horrific knee damage threatened his career.

India will be wary to avoid falling into the same trap as Australia did last summer; with focus firmly on Flintoff and Harmison, the Australians dropped their guard and were exposed by the Welsh-man whose ability to swing the ball in new and old states at express pace earned 18 wickets in four Tests.

With the pitches expected to contain minimal bounce, such movement with the SG ball here will be a threatening weapon.

Jones, who visited with England A two years ago and spent a week with Dennis Lillee in Chennai this month, expects it to be a tactic re-employed.

He said: "We kept the ball in pretty good nick the other day and it just swung conventionally. A Test pitch will get more worn, so reverse-swing will no doubt play a part there.

"I like the ball, they are very similar to the Duke balls we use back home, they have a nice seam on them and shine well. They swing conventionally for a long period of time, so the boys are happy with them."

Harmison is braced for another surface which encourages the fast men when England play a strong Indian Board XI in a three-day match here starting tomorrow.

He said: "We're not stupid. We've come here with our eyes wide open. We know we'll get two practice-match pitches where the ball will possibly move about off the seam and bounce. Then when we get to the three Tests, I can't see the ball bouncing above the stumps.

"But we've played the game long enough and we've got some experienced cricketers in the side, so we'll learn and go forward."

That is the direction in which the side has moved since they set off for the Caribbean, with Harmison and Jones returning from injury, in 2004.

Harmison puts his almost exemplary fitness since - he missed a few one-dayers in South Africa last year with an ankle injury - down to his training regime with Newcastle United.

He said: "I've been back to Newcastle again for five weeks and they've been great there. I don't think I've missed a Test since I first went there before the West Indies tour. This week has gone well and we are all building for that first game." ..SUPL: