Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

1897 Nottinghamshire had a disheartening season, winning the 2 matches against Sussex and losing 5 others. They finished 10th out of the 14 county sides. J.A.Dixon passed a thousand runs for the Club and five others, including Jones, scored over 500. William Attewell was, again, the most successful bowler. There were one or two good omens, however. The Colts team contained James Iremonger who made his debut for the county in 1899 and who was to open the innings with Arthur Owen in the years to come with such good effect. This season also saw the debut of Thomas William Oates who was to give his county so many years of devoted service as wicket-keeper. Arthur Owen’s season was also a little lacking in sparkle. He had injured his hand during the winter and was not initially in the best of health but he improved as the summer rolled by. He was given his first taste of captaincy in the match against Derbyshire. The season got off to a grand start. John Auger Dixon, who first became county captain in 1889 made his highest score, 268 not out, in the first win against Sussex. This beat by one run the previous highest score for the county made on two separate occasions by Arthur Shrewsbury. He first did it against Middlesex in 1887 and again against Sussex in 1890. Dixon declared the innings closed when he had passed Shrewsbury’s total. In the away match against Kent, the home side batted first and amassed 406 runs and then reduced Nottinghamshire to 36 for 4 and then 168 all out. Arthur Owen opened with Shrewsbury in the second innings, putting on 132 before A.O. was out for 75. The score at the end of the second day was 174 for 1 wicket. The match was saved by Dixon making 91 and Attewell, whose career batting average was just over 14, making his only century. Nottinghamshire enjoyed a second win over Sussex. Jones made 58 in the first innings and held 4 catches in the match. Attewell took 12 wickets altogether to help Notts win by 69 runs. The next match was against the Philadelphians who were making the first of their three tours of this country. They played 15 matches and had two victories, against Sussex and Warwickshire. J.R.Gunn made 107 and the veteran Alfred Shaw was recalled and took 3 wickets. He first played for Nottinghamshire in 1864. The home match against Gloucestershire was a close run affair, the visitors winning by 3 wickets with just 5 minutes to spare. Shrewsbury made 50 in each innings. G.L.Jessop was caught by Arthur Owen off the bowling of J.R.Gunn. This was the first of 82 such wickets which these two took during their playing time together. Arthur Owen made his highest score to date, against Middlesex at home. He made a wonderfully hard hitting 162 to give Notts a two run lead on the first innings. Both Shrewsbury and Jones were then run out by sharp fielding. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 78. Nottinghamshire v MCC, Lord’s, May 5, 6 (Nottinghamshire won by 43 runs) c A.N.Hornby b F.Martin 20 112 106 b F.Martin 5 101 64 1 79. Nottinghamshire v Sussex, Trent Bridge, May 10, 11, 12 (Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 74 runs) b C.H.G.Bland 9 448-7d 6 1 22 0 255 7 1 24 1 H.R.Butt c A.Shrewsbury 119 1 80. Nottinghamshire v Lancashire, Trent Bridge, May 24, 25, (26) (Match drawn) did not bat - 64-3 9 1 33 1 F.H.Sugg c W.Gunn 318 81. Nottinghamshire v Kent, Trent Bridge, May 31, June 1, 2 (Match drawn) c H.C.Stewart b W.Wright 3 231 9 3 20 0 219 1 12 3 26 0 177 2 82. Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Trent Bridge, June 7, 8, (9) (Match drawn) c H.Wood b T.Richardson 10 275 4 0 12 0 77-1 83. Nottinghamshire v Middlesex, Lord’s, June 14, 15, 16 (Match drawn) c A.J.Webbe b J.T.Hearne 14 202 5 0 18 0 375 1 c A.E.Stoddart b J.T.Hearne 47 393-6 84. Nottinghamshire v Kent, Gravesend, June 17, 18, 19 (Match drawn) b W.Wright 4 168 17 0 93 2 J.R.Mason c A.Pike 406 1 G.J.Mordaunt b c C.J.Burnup b J.R.Mason 75 493 20