Lives in Cricket No 4 - Ernie Jones

Sydney Cricket Ground on the way to taking 11 for 202 in a match which South Australia won by 295 runs. The one further voice raised against Jones during the season was that of Sydney journalist John Corbett Davis in the Referee following this game. Davis thought that Jones’ action showed ‘a dangerous variation from what it was before’ but that judgment, like that of Moody’s earlier, can be viewed as an example of home-town bias. The Fifth Test was England’s chance to regain some respect and they did so before a record crowd of 36,000 on the first day, by reaching 5 for 301 with all of their first seven batsmen bar Ranjitsinhji scoring more than forty. Jones came on as first change bowler but was disappointing in operating below his normal speed, and pitching the ball too short, although he did find the stumps of both Hayward and wicket-keeper batsman Bill Storer. The big turnaround came early on the second day when Jones increased his speed and smashed through the lower order in a 50-ball spell in which he gathered 4 wickets for 11 runs. He beat two of his victims with yorkers and was loudly cheered when he returned to the pavilion with his best Test figures of 6 for 82 to his name. England’s 335 was fewer than they would have hoped for, but Australia’s collapse to Tom Richardson’s off theory for 239 gave them a handy lead. Jones started the ball rolling Australia’s way in the second innings by having MacLaren caught for a duck from his first ball and getting Ranjitsinhji leg before wicket for 12 with the needle between him and Jones maintained to the final curtain. Ranjitsinhji averred that he got a bat to the ball from which he was given out, but Jones, Howell and others claimed it hit his leg first. Jones took a further three wickets and could have gained his first ten-wicket haul in Tests if two other chances had been accepted. England’s dismissal for 178 left Australia a competitive total of 275 to win but Darling’s third brilliant century for the series saw them home by six wickets with a 4-1 margin. In Adelaide there was plenty of gloating. Darling topped the batting averages of the two teams with 537 runs at 67.12 and Hill was third with 452 runs at 56.59. In the five Test matches Jones captured 22 wickets at 25.14. Even more importantly, however, was the timing of his breakthroughs. He equalled Richardson’s tally of wickets but at 10 runs less. In seven matches against the Englishmen he gathered 43 wickets at 22.76 with a career-best 14 for 237 for South Australia in the last match of the season by which time Ranjitsinhji was praising him as ‘one of the world’s The Great Fast Bowler: 1896-1899 38