Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

captain. The weather was wet and cold. In the win over South Australia, who batted first, Arthur Owen made his only century overseas. Fane was first out, for 32, in a stand of 123. Jones gave a wonderful display of fine foot-work and free hitting cricket. He batted for 150 minutes and hit 11 fours. He received a great reception from the crowd as he made his way to the pavilion. The match contained five hundreds, four of them for MCC. The temperature was recorded as 94°F in the shade. Besides making 114, J.N.Crawford took 5 second innings wickets. The third match was left as a draw after five days. The tourists nearly lost, having only one wicket to fall, but might have won earlier on but for indifferent bowling and over confident batting in the first innings. J.B.Hobbs had suffered from sea sickness on the ocean crossing and was slow to find his form at the beginning of this tour. He opened the batting with Arthur Owen and in the second innings they made a steady start. Jones played a clever and restrained innings for his 82 and was fourth out at 157. The next match saw a huge win over New South Wales. MCC were over cautious in their batting and were lucky in having some catches dropped. They were 290 at the end of the first day’s play. Every batsman got into double figures. Barnes bowled superbly, only Victor Trumper played him with any confidence. New South Wales had lost 3 wickets for 13 runs by lunch and were all out at 4pm. A.O. did not enforce the follow-on and MCC had made 301 by 3.30 pm the next day. The tour, so far, had been a resounding success and the fifth match also produced a win for the visitors. It did, however, contain the seeds of the disaster which was to overtake the series and which would ensure that it was remembered with sadness rather than pleasure. The party had a long train journey for Sydney and arrived at Brisbane late at night and very tired. Barnes, Fielder and Hardstaff were rested so that they would be fresh for the first Test. Colin Blythe and Len Braund proved too much for the Queensland batsmen. The pitch was damp, but this does not explain the poor showing of the home side. The early MCC batting was undistinguished. It was easy to stay in but more difficult to force runs. Jones put himself in a long way down the order. The score was 163 for 7 when he came in to join Rhodes. He played a fine, free hitting and enterprising game, driving good length balls and playing the late cut with excellent timing. Rhodes was sound and the pair had put on 87 by the end of the day’s play. The following day, Jones and Rhodes continued their partnership until it stood at 133. The weather throughout this match had been distinctly chilly. Arthur Owen had scored his runs with a temperature of 101°F, playing on to the end of the match to see his side to victory. The match ended on the Monday and it wasn’t until the Wednesday that he went to see a doctor. He was immediately sent to the Victoria Hospital in Brisbane, where he stayed for several weeks. His condition was variously reported in the British Press as, influenza, bronchial catarrh, a feverish attack and as a bad cough. A modern-day course of antibiotics would have cured his sickness, causing him to miss one or two matches at most. He never really shook off the effects of this illness, which was to dog him for the rest of his days and to play its part in his premature death in just over seven years time. The tourists had not yet lost a match. Fane, who had led Essex from 1904 to 1906, took over the captaincy at short notice. The second Brisbane match, against an Australian XI, was left as a draw as the tourists had to get to Sydney in time for the first Test. Both sides played well, despite the stifling heat. George Gunn was in Australia for “health reasons,” with the understanding that he could be picked if needed. Hobbs had not yet found consistent form and so Fane chose Gunn in preference. This turned out to be a successful decision. Gunn scored the only century of the match but Australia won an exciting contest by a narrow margin in front of huge crowds. The match was played to a finish and took six days. The following match in Melbourne was left as a draw but Hobbs at last played well. England won the second Test by one wicket in a scramble for runs which might have resulted in a tie. England lost the third Test by 245 runs. This was almost the total made for the eighth wicket stand in the second innings by Roger Hartigan and Clem Hill. All this time, Arthur Owen was recuperating in the cool of the hills near Melbourne. The two matches in Tasmania were played in temperatures of over 100 in the shade. Jones fielded substitute for Gunn in the second match and it was the first time he had appeared on a cricket field in seven weeks. He played in the match against Victoria, although he had not fully recovered. Hobbs 60