England 'A' captain Alex Gidman will return home this week, midway through his team's tour of India, due to a finger injury.

The 22-year-old Gloucestershire all-rounder missed the first two one-day matches against India 'A', which his team lost earlier this week to go down 2-0 in the three-match series.

"Alex had broken his finger after being struck in the nets during practice in December and he hasn't really done very much since," England 'A' manager Nigel Laughton told Reuters by phone from Madras.

"He saw two specialists here and they both felt he needed at least three more weeks of rest," he added.

Gidman has played 18 first class matches, scoring 965 runs at an average of 32.16 and taken 15 wickets.

Fast bowler Simon Jones, sidelined for 15 months after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in only his second Test against Australia in Brisbane, played the second one-dayer on Tuesday after having missed the first due to knee stiffness.

He picked up one wicket for 45 runs from his 10 overs.

Jones is seeking to prove his fitness ahead of a four-Test tour of the Caribbean starting in March.

England 'A' play their final one-day match against India 'A' in Madras on Thursday before joining India's domestic Duleep Trophy tournament starting on February 21.