Cricket 1905

C R IC K E T , WEEKLY REOORO OF THB QAMB. SEPT. 7 1905. €=ZD$e$(----- 9 1L-L DS@9C ©! I I I / y \ k - y) ~ Z jJ g y I ■S 1 JA[ I K J p l E S iJ I J s I I Jxt* F -T e « S B i £ “ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. no 704 . voi. xxiv. THURSDAY , SEPT. 7, 1905. price ad. A CHAT ABOUT MR. A. O. JONES. It is not by any means merely a com­ pliment to Mr. Jones to apply to him the phrase, “ he is every inch a cricketer.” For whether as a batsman, a bowler, or a fieldsman, he always puts his whole energy into his work, and from the first ball of a match to the last he shows an enthusiasm which communicates itself to his side, and often leads it to victory after its position has seemed hope­ less. One can easily imagine that, if he had represented Notts fifty years ago, he would have been described in the quaint language of the Lillywhite’s Guides of the period as: “ J ones , Mr. A. O., Notts. A gentleman batsman and a most valuable player to his county. Is a capital hitter, coupled with ability to play the best bowling with science and ease; a sure run-getter and an excellent preventative in the field to their being obtained; a good leg-break bowler; qualities which certainly entitle him to the denomination of a first-class ' all-round.’ In the slips we know of no one who can excel him ; he makes some good ones which sometimes ‘ turn the scale ’ for a losing side. Alto­ gether so talented that it is generally thought no eleven is complete without him.” Although Mr. Jones began to play for Notts in 1892, a year before he received his Blue at Cambridge, it was not until 1899 that he rose absolutely to the front rank. In previous years he had not been able to curb his impatience sufficiently to enable him to play many very long innings, but with greater experi­ ence came greater patience, and in 1899 he had a splendid season, scoring 1,609 runs, with an average of 44. The amazingly good wickets at Trent Bridge of recent years may or may not have been detrimental to the interests of the county, but there can be no question that they helped largely to develop the finest qualities of Mr. Jones and Ire­ monger as batsmen. In their long first-wicket partnerships the two men have gained a reputation which is almost as great as that of Mr. Fry and Vine, two other men whose best points have been brought out by the excellence of the wickets on their county ground. It is pretty certain that no spectator who has ever watched a long partnership between Mr. Jones and Iremonger has ever found time hang heavy on'hislhands, for it would be almost impossible to imagine brighter cricket than is played by the two men. There may be batsmen who score faster, but the two Notts men score quite fast enough to please even the most exacting spectator. Some­ times it is one of them who leads the way, sometimes the other, but always they both play delightful cricket. Unlike so many players whose game is described as brilliant, Mr. Jones does not have as many off-days as most ordinary cricketers. On the whole he is a consistent scorer, and it is only on the very rarest occasions that he seems to find any difficulties in the bowling, even when the wicket is not in favour of bats­ men. He drives with great power, especially to the off, and when he gets really going the fields­ men who are near the wicket are kept extremely busy, for if a ball passes them it generally goes to the boundary in a hurry. In 1901 Mr. Jones first joined the still somewhat select band of those who have scored over two thousand runs in a season, and was thirteenth in the averages with 46-77 for 51 innings. In the following year, with 39 innings, he dropped to 1,147 ; in 1903 his record was 1,422 for 38 innings; while last year he scored 1,756 in 34 innings and was fourth in the averages with 60’55, and for the present season his total was 1,646 up to last Saturday. It will thus be seen that since he came into very prominent notice he has never looked back. He is one of the few men who have gained a place in an England team mainly because of their magnificent fielding, but his brilliant work in the slips caused him to bej;chosen at Lord’s this year, when, if he had been merely a good instead of a great fields} MR. A. O. JONE8. (From a Photo by Messrs* Hawkins Co,, Brighton ,)