Lives in Cricket No 4 - Ernie Jones

Graham – practised at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the morning, while New South Welshmen Turner, Iredale and Gregory did so with Trott and Graham again in the afternoon. Blackham skipped practice entirely. Test debut: 1894-95 In one of the most remarkable matches of all time, and one of just three Tests lost to the side following on, Jones made little impact and it might have been less. With the bat Jones made 11 not out in Australia’s huge first innings of 586 which was dominated by Gregory’s 201 and Giffen’s 161. However, he was thoroughly pleased with an artistic late cut and showing signs of the joker, expressed himself, ‘I’m coming on’. In the tourists’ first innings, although he bowled with good pace, Blackham, as if to prove a point, used him sparingly, giving him just nineteen of 140.3 overs. Early in the season Blackham had argued that a lightning bowler was harmless on fast wickets and therefore a useless member of a team playing in Australia. Jones gained the wicket of William Brockwell for 49 when Blackham, standing back, tossed the ball up for a catch with the umpire nodding in reply. The dismissal made the total 5 for 211 and the manner of it revealed that cricketers have never been averse to bluffing umpires. England’s first innings score of 325 meant that they were forced to follow on, but Jones proved erratic, frequently pitching the ball too short. When Blackham was injured, Giffen took over the leadership in the second innings and gave him only a further nineteen out of 181.4 overs while bowling 75 overs himself. Jones made a good running catch to dismiss Jack Brown off Giffen and was rewarded for a fuller length by bowling Brockwell to give him match figures of 2 for 101. England’s second innings of 437 produced a lead of 176 but at stumps on the fifth day Australia appeared on top, with just 64 runs required to win and eight wickets in hand. Then it rained, the sun came out, and a notorious sticky wicket wrecked its prospects. At 8 for 161 with just 16 runs needed Jones went in and tried to win by hitting hard and agriculturally. However, Johnny Briggs was too wily and he was out for a single as Australia lost by 10 runs. Jones’ bowling was too short, he did not attempt a yorker, and was felt to be raw and in need of coaching, although he remained formidable on Adelaide club wickets. He disappeared for the Star Ascending: 1892-1895 15