Cricket 1899

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toll.”— Byron. wo. 516 . vol. xvm, THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1899. pbioe 2 d. A CHAT ABOUT ERNEST JONES. When in November, 1896, a notice of Ernest Jones appeared in Cricket, it was pointed out that he was at that time a really great bowler, with some limita­ tions. Like a mile runner who starts as if he were in a hundred yards race, he kept nothing in hand, and after the first few overs his speed perceptibly slackened until at the end of a very long innings he was still fast, but not very fast. To a great extent he has improved in his methods, and although his first tw o or three overs are always much faster than any others, he still reserves a very fast ball for conve­ nient occasions. When he began to play again in Australia after his visit to England, he for some time hardly kept up his reputa­ tion, and batsmen found that it was easy to score against him, although he was always likely to get two or three wickets at the beginning of an innings. Last season it was currently reported in Australia that he had ’.ost his pace and devil, tu t it must not be forgotten that he had to play chiefly for South Australia, who not only could not provide many other bowlers to relieve him, but frequently spoiled his analy­ sis by dropping catches. Throughout his tour in En g­ land he never succeeded in persuading all the connois­ seurs that his action was free from suspicion, and when he returned to Australia it was so severely criticised that fears were expressed that it would never do for him to come to England again. But Jones is a man who thinks for himst-lf, and in course of time he developed an action which defied the critics to call it a throw, and the most that is ever said against it this year is that “ it is w on­ derful how cleverly he does it.” Suffice it to say that he has been untouched by the crusade which was formed against the chuckers, and his action is nowadays regarded by umpires and most cricketers as above suspicion. It would be very liard—iu fact it would be impossible—to say whether he is a better bowler than he was in 1896, for he came to England this year at a time which was peculiarly fortunate for a fast bowler. When he was over here before he not only had rivals but superiors, and the result was that the batsmen who were opposed to him, having met better men than he was, were generally able to do themselves justice against him. A ll this has been changed. Jones is absolutely without a rival at present. Batsmen who meet him have had no opportunities of playing against very fast bow ling which has any­ thing in i t ; consequently very many men are altogether at sea when they have to oppose him, and one cannot tell how much of his present success is duetto improvement or how much is due to the absence of rivals. All that can be said with certainty is that he stands alone at present as the fast bowler of the day, His accuracy is not, and is never likely to be, compar­ able to that of Richardson in his best days, but accuracy is only a part of Jones’ pro­ gramme. To him variety would seem to be the most im­ portant lesson to be learned in the art of bow ling, and it must be confessed that no batsman has ever been found to describe him as monoto­ nous. H e is not afraid to Dowl a full pitch, in spite of the danger which must attend such a ball from a bowler of his pace, and a short-pitched ball which frightens a good many batsmen almost out of their wits b y the difficulty which they find in escaping from it, is as useful to him as it sometimes is to Mr. K ort­ right or Mr. Ernest Smith— and however much batsmen may object to if , they are always obliged to admit that any bowler may choose any part of the wicket on which to pitch the ball. Unlike many fast bowlers Jones does not waste his strength in an unnecessary manner. He does not take too long a run, his action is easy, and he quickens his run up to the wicket at the best poi-sible time, and when he bow ls the ball he makes use of every ounce of his weight. His very peculiarity—he has a way of looking down at the ground just before he starts, “ to see if his boots are all righ t,” as a lady observed—helps to