THE eyes of the England cricket selectors will be firmly focused on the small Gwent village of Pan-teg tomorrow when Glamorgan fast bowler Simon Jones makes his long-awaited comeback.

After the national team's mauling at the hands of South Africa and the ineffectiveness of pacemen Darren Gough and Steve Harmison, Jones' return is badly needed.

But though the 24-year-old from Llanelli has made a remarkable recovery from ruptured knee ligaments suffered in the First Ashes Test against Australia in Brisbane last November, he won't be playing Test cricket this summer.

Instead, his sights are set on England's tour to the West Indies in the New Year. Any return before then, even for Glamorgan's final county championship promotion push, will be a massive bonus.

"I can't wait to get back into action," said Jones ahead of tomorrow's Glamorgan Seconds match against Lancashire at the ground where team mate David Harrison and his England Under-19s brother Adam honed their cricket.

"In some ways it has been a long nine months out of action, but in other ways it has gone pretty quickly," said Jones.

"The hardest part was the first six weeks after my injury. I had to spend a lot of time sitting on my bum with my feet up in front of the TV and I don't like that. I'm an active person.

"It will be great to put on the whites again and see where I am. Erj Mustafa (the Glamorgan phsyio who has plotted every stage of Jones' recovery) believes I am ready to play again, so that has given me a lot of confidence.

"But people have to realise that this game is part of my rehabilitation and I will only be bowling at about 85 to 90 percent of my potential.

"I won't be bowling more than ten or 12 overs in a day, maybe in three or four spells. It will be a case of suck it and see. I'll probably be a little bit nervous but it's time to get back."

Since being off, Jones has refined his bowling action under England Academy coach Troy Cooley and in recent weeks has had fresh help with his run up from former Olympic long jump champion Lyn Davies.

He has also bowled in the nets and has been with the England players on Test duty to ensure he still feels part of the set-up.

He has also had the help of a sports psychologist to try to ensure he takes his mind off the events that led to his serious injury.

That was caused by his sliding to try to stop a boundary and though he has been involved in countless fielding sessions in recent months, he said: "I don't think you'll see me flinging myself about in the outfield too much. I'll be kicking balls over the ropes rather than sliding to save fours."

Jones has worked wonders to get back where he is now and is keen to fire at the batsmen again.

If he comes through tomorrow another few seconds games will be in order before any first team recall.

Meanwhile, he said: "I'm feeling good, but there's still some way to go and I'll just take it one game at a time."