Lives in Cricket No 4 - Ernie Jones

that Jones did not deceive batsmen with off cutters or variations of pace. It is worth noting that other reporters credited Jones with greater versatility. Heavy rain fell the night before the Second Test, producing a soft pitch which saw 25 wickets fall for 221 runs. It meant that whoever won the toss would put the other side in to bat. MacLaren did so but the expectation was that the weather looked like settling. The wicket would improve, although before doing so it would get worse. With Trumper falling second ball to Barnes and half the side out for 38, the English bowlers made a good start but did not take full advantage of the conditions so that Australia did well to reach 112. Barnes and Blythe bowled unchanged for the innings to be over in 32.1 overs with Duff top-scoring with 32. Darling, Hill and Trumble added support to reach double figures and Jones was warmly applauded for his score of 14. Even so, Barnes (6 for 42) bowled too many loose balls and took a long time to find his length, and Blythe (4 for 64), suffering a hand injury on which he wore a bandage, was also astray with his length and proved expensive. England’s response lasted less than half the time. In a mere 15.4 overs Noble and Trumble put the Englishmen back in the pavilion for 61, with Jessop top-scoring with 27 and MacLaren the only other batsman to get into double figures. Noble bowled magnificently, making the ball swerve from the leg, and when it touched the ground it broke sharply back again. With the pitch expected to roll out better on the second day, Darling juggled his batting order, taking Trumble in with himself. Although they started well with 32, the promotion of Howell to three, Kelly to four, and Jones to five, failed, as all were dismissed for the addition of 16 runs, so that at stumps the Australian lead was 99. As it turned out, Australia took charge on the morrow led principally by Hill’s 99 and Duff’s brilliant 104 (including a last-wicket partnership of 120 with Armstrong) which took the home side to 353 and a lead of 414. Barnes sent down 42 overs straight and came back to finish with 64 from which he took 7 for 121 in the second innings and 13 for 163 in the game, but he was bowled into the ground. Noble and Trumble spun England out a second time for 175 for a 229 run win. Trumble ended the game in a rush by removing Arthur Jones, John Gunn and Barnes with a hat-trick to briefly grab some of the limelight from Noble who had bested Barnes’ effort with 13 for 77. Jones, so used to terrific toil in 58 A Slow Dimming: 1900-1903