Lives in Cricket No 4 - Ernie Jones

any offer to you remain England communicate with me before accepting – Creswell.’ While there was satisfaction with Creswell’s swift response, an early intention of the SACA seemed to be to offer Jones the position of a ground bowler at the Adelaide Oval. If, however, the association could not match Sussex’s offer, it was generally considered that supporters of cricket would subscribe annually enough to give Jones a substantial retainer. Jones stood down from the game against MCC at Lord’s but then had another successful match against Yorkshire at Headingley in which he took 7 for 36 in the county’s only innings of a rain-ruined drawn game. Coming into the First Test he had taken 58 wickets at 10.56 in ten matches to be the form bowler in the side. His first Test in England got off to a poor start, although it was not of his doing. While the home team ignored calls to select Ranjitsinhji, the enthusiasm for the opening game was unprecedented. Lord’s had scarcely ever before been the scene of such a boisterous crowd, particularly when the spectators encroached on the ground, shortening the boundaries and obscuring the view of those behind whose response was to throw missiles in protest. The attendance was around 30,000, as 25,414 paid admission. The pavilion was full, and the privilege of members introducing friends was suspended. The downside for the Australians was that its woeful first innings of 53 lasted just an hour and a quarter, with Surrey pair Tom Richardson (6 for 39) and George Lohmann (3 for 13) doing the damage. England responded with 292 before Australia gave itself a chance of climbing back into the game when captain Trott and Syd Gregory added 221 for the fourth wicket in the second innings. However, the eventual total of 347 left England only 109 to get which they achieved for the loss of four wickets. Jones bowled Jack Brown in his first innings 1 for 64 when he pitched the ball too short. In the second innings he was more accurate as an analysis of 23-10-42-2 attests and the ball which bowled Hayward was well up. He might have been dangerous but there were too few runs to play with. By mid-July, Jones had captured figures of 5 for 56 against the North of England at Old Trafford, and eight wickets in the match against the Players at Leyton. This took his wicket tally to 81 at less than 14 runs apiece, which brought some appreciative comments from Trott who remarked that Jones took wickets for other bowlers because batsmen feared his mode of attack. By then fuller details of the Sussex offer had come to light. In Adelaide Eliza 24 The Great Fast Bowler: 1896-1899