Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m County Championship 58 12 180 5 2-62 56.00 - - Other Notts matches 1 0 12 0 - - - - Season (6-b) 59 12 192 5 2-62 38.40 - - Career (6-b) 1215 189 } 9063 271 6-26 33.44 7 1 (5-b) 1440.3 244 1909 Nottinghamshire came tenth in the Championship, winning 6 matches and losing 8. Weather conditions were similar to those of 1907, but Hallam and Wass were not able to take the same quantity of wickets. John Gunn seemed to be a spent force as far as bowling was concerned. Only brother George scored a thousand championship runs, although James Iremonger came near to it and five others passed 500. Nottinghamshire played well at times but reverted to the inconsistency which had characterised their play before the Championship year. In the opening match, with the touring Australians, Arthur Owen scored his first century at Trent Bridge for nearly two years. It was also the first century of the season. He was at the crease for 220 minutes and, carrying his bat, played a masterly innings with restraint and skill. This was only the second Nottinghamshire century against touring Australians and Arthur Owen had scored them both. No one else made many runs. John Gunn was the second highest scorer and put on 81 with Jones for the second wicket. Tom Wass, batting last was third highest scorer with 31 runs, putting on 52 with his captain. This is still the highest last wicket partnership for Nottinghamshire against the Australians. Nottinghamshire collapsed in their second innings and the tourists were not required to bat again. The first home Championship match ended in a win against Leicestershire. Arthur Owen, batting brightly, put on 82 with George Gunn for the second wicket and 63 with Hardstaff for the third. The latter went on to make a century, John Gunn passed 50. Ted Alletson scored 81, reaching 50 in 60 minutes. J.H.King and V.F.S.Crawford batted well, but Notts needed just 40 to win. They achieved this in 38 balls, but lost 3 wickets. Arthur Owen played in the Edgbaston Test, one of only four matches to be lost by the tourists. The wicket was damp and so, in about 100 minutes, Hirst and Blythe bowled unchanged, dismissing Australia in 46 overs. The early English batsmen also had difficulties, the wickets of MacLaren, Hobbs and Fry falling for 17 runs. J.T.Tyldesley and Arthur Owen put on 41 in under the hour. Jones made the highest score in either of the first innings. The Australians lost Macartney in the second innings with only 4 runs on the board. Worse was to follow for, with the score at 16, Arthur Owen took his most famous catch, to dismiss Noble at forward short leg off the bowling of Hirst. The ball was bowled on the leg side and Noble hit it with the full face of the bat, as hard as he could, and started to run. Everyone looked to the boundary but, to their surprise, Jones threw the ball up in the air. He had caught a ball, left handed, which had never risen above ankle height. A gasp went round the ground, followed by cheering and clapping. Noble walked grim-faced back to the pavilion while the England players clustered round Jones to congratulate him. Arthur Owen later said that it was no fluke. He had been watching Hirst closely and saw the ball coming down the leg side. He had seen Noble shaping to play and immediately moved a couple of yards to take an “impossible” catch. England needed 105 to win. Hobbs and Fry, who had both been bowled for no score by Macartney in the first innings, hit off the runs in 90 minutes without being parted. His next match resulted in a home win against Surrey. In putting on 76 for the first wicket with Iremonger, Jones was dropped three times. Catches continued to be missed as George Gunn and Payton contributed to the large score. William Riley, the slow left arm medium bowler took 6 wickets in the first innings. Surrey followed on and, despite a century by Hayward, Wass took 8 wickets at 8 runs a piece. England were soundly beaten in what turned out to be Arthur Owen’s last Test appearance. The side chosen was not the strongest possible and although they made a reasonable total in the first innings, 66