Famous Cricketers No 63 - A.O.Jones

generations who had not seen him play. He died at the start of the First World War and the nation had greater pre-occupations for the next four years. Many of his younger fans died in the conflict. He was not buried in his native Nottinghamshire. None of his family played for the Club or maintained close connections with it. By the end of his career, Arthur Owen Jones held many of the Nottinghamshire county records. He had appeared more often for Nottinghamshire than any one else, although his total was soon overtaken by George Gunn. He had captained his county most often, passing J.A.Dixon’s tally. A.O.Jones was the first to lead Nottinghamshire to a hundred victories. This has still only been bettered by A.W.Carr. Nottinghamshire lost fewer than a fifth of their home Championship matches when he was captain. Jones scored a thousand runs in a season on 8 occasions for Nottinghamshire. Arthur Shrewsbury achieved this 7 times. George Gunn’s tally at this time also stood at 7. In 1901 A.O.Jones scored 1,718 runs for his county. This passed Shrewsbury’s record of 1,388, set in 1887. James Iremonger established a new Club record of 1,949 in 1904. In 1903, A.O.Jones became the first Nottinghamshire player to score a century before lunch on the first day of a match. He is still the only one to have achieved this twice, the second time being the last century of his career. Between 1901 and 1911 Jones and Iremonger opened the innings on 229 occasions, making century partnerships 25 times and fifty partnerships 69 times. These achievements were later passed by G.Gunn and W.W.Whysall and by W.W.Keeton and C.B.Harris. Jones and Iremonger, however, still have the best strike rates of the three pairs for century and fifty partnerships. They also recorded the first two occasions on which Nottinghamshire openers made a century partnership in each innings of a match. W.W.Keeton and C.B.Harris also achieved this twice but no other Nottinghamshire pair have done it more than once. Arthur Owen still holds the county record for the number of catches held by a fielder, 457. He held 9 other catches while keeping wicket for Nottinghamshire. He held 20 catches or more in a season on 10 occasions in county matches. He was the first to achieve this for his county and no other Nottinghamshire fielder has accomplished this as often. In all first-class matches, he took 20 or more catches in a season on 15 occasions. It is in his fielding that he stands comparison over time. He took 577 catches in 472 first-class matches, 10 of them while keeping wicket. If these are discounted, his career average as a fielder is just over 12 catches in every 10 matches. Few fielders have taken more catches than Arthur Owen at a higher rate. Of those with more catches than Arthur Owen, P.M.Walker’s catching rate per 10 matches is over 14, while that for J.Tunnicliffe is just under. J.G.Langridge’s rate is over 13 while that for W.R.Hammond is just under. Others with a rate of 12 are G.A.R.Lock, P.J.Sharpe, K.J.Grieves, James Seymour and C.A.Milton. Writing epitaphs is a tricky business because generations pass and perceptions change. Voices from bygone days bear witness to heartfelt sentiments and challenge current hearers. F.S.Ashley-Cooper wrote, in 1923, of Arthur Owen’s place in the history of Nottinghamshire cricket: “It is safe to say, that, as long as the game continues to be played in the County, so long will his name be held in affectionate remembrance.” 81