Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

He and Gunn scored two second wicket century partnerships in the same match. Jones batted for 160 minutes, hitting 12 fours, to record the first Nottinghamshire century against Australian tourists. This match was a tremendous start and boded well for the rest of the season. Although Arthur Owen made no more centuries until August, he had a string of scores over 50 and took part in numerous stands which got his side off to a good start. In the away match with Sussex, he put on 89 for the second wicket with John Gunn in the first innings and followed this by putting on 58 with Iremonger in the second. Notts had a small first innings lead and might have won. In the match at Lord’s against Middlesex, Jones was at his very best with the bat and had a century partnership in each innings. He put on 117 with George Gunn for the third wicket and then made 118 with Iremonger for the first. Gunn made 99 in the first innings. This was the top score of the match, in which eight scores of 50 or more were made, one of them by Oates the wicket-keeper. This victory was followed by a home win against Essex. The visitors batted first and were 197 for three. The rest of the side were out for 47 runs, John Gunn taking 7 wickets. By the close of play on the first day, Jones and Iremonger had put on 136. Arthur Owen was first out with the score on 154. His partner was dismissed for 239 when the score was 488 for 6. Jones declared first thing on the third day and Essex were dismissed in about two hours. John Gunn took 13 wickets in the match for just over ten runs each. Notts performed well in all aspects of the game. This was not the case at Bristol and was the first time Arthur Owen had been on the losing side there since 1896. Nottinghamshire batted indifferently in the first innings, only James Iremonger passing 50. The home team fielded extremely well and batted with determination when it was their turn, finishing with a lead of 57. Jones batted very carefully in the second innings, making the top score. He and George Gunn put on 82 for the second wicket. John Gunn made the second highest score and Gloucestershire were set an reasonable target. The Notts team then travelled to Gravesend to play a match against Kent which achieved a certain notoriety. It even lead to a feeling of enmity between the two Clubs which lasted for a number of years. The pitch at the Bat and Ball ground had a reputation for being fiery in nature, assisting the fast bowlers. In this case it was Arthur Fielder who exploited the conditions while bowling 28 overs. Arthur Owen received a severe blow to the elbow and had to retire for a long time before resuming his innings. George Gunn was hit over the heart and took no further part in the match, once he was out. James Iremonger made 59 and put on 103 with Jones and George Gunn before the first wicket fell. John Gunn made a splendid 108 not out, despite being hit repeatedly by sharply rising balls. Rev Harvey Staunton made a valiant 44. Being struck on the knee by Fielder, he took his revenge by dispatching the four subsequent balls to the boundary. The state of the pitch and the bowling of Fielder caused a heated exchange of correspondence between Trent Bridge and Canterbury. The upshot was that Notts refused to play against Kent and, apart from the return match, the two sides did not meet again until 1911. Arthur Owen was recalled to the England side for the first time since his tour with Archie MacLaren in 1901/02. He was in the list of 13 players for each Test but only played twice. On two other occasions he was 12th man. England won the match and the series, but Jones’ contribution on paper was minimal. He was, no doubt, hoping to do well in front of his own crowd. Jackson won the toss and a score in excess of 300 was anticipated but the fast bowling of Cotter unnerved some of the batsmen. His habit was to pitch the ball a little more than half way down the wicket and get it to rise to shoulder level. The wickets of Hayward, Jones, MacLaren and Jackson all fell for 47 runs. Jackson took the wickets of Noble, Hill and Darling in one over. The Australian innings was closed when Jones threw himself forward to take a tremendous left-handed catch close to the ground to dismiss Laver. MacLaren and Hayward got the second innings off to flying start, making 145. Arthur Owen was required to score quickly. He and Tyldesley put on 56 for the third wicket, which assisted the declaration. Australia, needing 402 to win, found the leg-break bowling of Bosanquet quite demoralising, even on a true wicket. Jones was called up to play in the drawn second Test, at Lord’s. He batted down the order and did not find conditions to his liking. Wisden says, “Jones was caught at point, apparently off the wicket keeper’s foot.” 49