Onions happy to be back in England side

Graham Onions conquered his nerves and controlled his emotions to take three Test wickets on his "second debut" for England.

Onions has admitted many times that he feared he might never set foot on a cricket field again, as a professional player, when he was at his lowest ebb with a serious back injury.

"A couple of years ago, I genuinely didn't think I was going to play cricket again," he said.

The fast bowler's eighth Test was in Cape Town at the start of 2010, and for much of the intervening two-and-a-half years the prospect of one day winning his ninth cap was a distant dream. That day has come at last though, after career-saving surgery, many months of rehabilitation and a string of outstanding performances for Durham this season.

The 29-year-old completed his uphill struggle when the third Investec Test finally got under way, after two washouts at Edgbaston, and he duly finished with figures of three for 56 in West Indies' 280 for eight.

He added: "When I put that shirt on and my cap on, it added to the nerves a little bit. I was pretty nervous. But it's good nerves, and I really, really enjoyed it. It's like a second debut really."

Onions' most awkward opponent was Marlon Samuels (76), who more than stood his ground both in verbal exchanges and with bat in hand.

"I can't even remember what I said. But it obviously touched a very raw nerve," Onions said of his minor spat with West Indies' number five. "There are no hard feelings at all, on my behalf. It brought out a couple of loose shots from him, so I suppose you could say it worked."

Samuels saw things a little differently, saying: "He has a few things to say, but I'm not interested. I don't like onions - I don't use it in my food.

"I guess Onions is not learning, because I have said in the press before that I enjoy it when people talk to me."