KENT wicketkeeper Geraint Jones will jet out to the West Indies on Wednesday with a masterplan in place for winning his maiden Test cap.

The 27-year-old Aussie-raised player knows from his pre-Christmas tour that he will start England’s latest trip as understudy keeper.

Yet Jones also realises that he showed enough promise in Sri Lanka to heap pressure on England’s present first-choice gloveman Chris Read.

At England's recent squad get-together in Loughborough, Jones and Read were told by England coach Duncan Fletcher that each player would get to play in at least one of the two, three-day warm-up games.

The inference is that the man who scores the most runs and keeps tidiest is likely to start behind the stumps when the Test series starts in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 11.

Jones said: “We’ve been de-briefed about Sri Lanka and talked about what the West Indies holds. I prefer it that way and can get my head round the task ahead. If I can get a good score in one of those early games then there’s a load more pressure on Chris. And because it’s a bigger tour, with more England support and media interest, the press will also have a bigger part to play.”

He stressed: “I’m confident I can score runs at Test level and I feel able to cope with the pressure.

“I think it’s helped that my rise through the ranks in cricket has been pretty fast. I’ve just had to lift my game and adapt to suit each level.”

He admitted, however: “I do sometimes have to pinch myself. Only 18 months ago I was understudy at Kent to Paul Nixon and wondering if I had a future in county cricket, let alone the international game.”

If all goes according to plan Jones will return to England on April 15, the eve of Kent’s opening championship match of the year in Bristol, by which time there could be an England cap tucked away in the kit bag.