Edwards happy with bowling rhythm

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, has said the warm-up match against Auckland helped him regain his rhythm after a back injury forced him out of international cricket for two months. Edwards missed West Indies' triangular Twenty20 series in Canada and ODIs against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

He picked up 3 for 125 in Auckland's first innings in the three-day match which was headed for a draw on Sunday. "My rhythm has been good," Edwards was quoted as saying in New Zealand's Sunday News. West Indies used ten bowlers in trying to contain Auckland, who racked up 587 in their first innings, with captain Richard Jones scoring a maiden double-century.

Edwards said it had been tiring to bowl on the flat track but it was a good workout all the same. "We haven't played Test cricket for a while and the guys have been up for the challenge, even though this is a dead track. Hopefully, our batters will get a good workout because that's what we really want - for them to get some runs on the table. When we first started we were looking to win this game but I don't think there's enough time left to get a result." West Indies last played a Test in June against Australia.

Jones said he declared Auckland's innings only after tea on day two because he felt sure West Indies weren't going to set up a game at any stage. "They're just coming here to practice as well, so I was just working on the basis that they were going to look to bat for the next day and a half so there was no real point," Jones said.

Jones, who played his only Test in 2003, was delighted to get his first double-hundred in 108 first-class games. "It's fantastic. It's something that wasn't in the resume up until today, so to get to that personal milestone was really nice."