Lives in Cricket No 4 - Ernie Jones

the hammering taken by leading bowler Trumble who finished with 0 for 127, and offered polite excuses for the Australians. The conditions were entirely different from those which they had experienced; sun-baked grounds devoid of grass covering, matting and the high altitude, were held by the South Africans to be in our favour, and strangely enough in the first two matches played at Johannesburg and Pretoria [in a game against a Transvaal Fifteen], the altered conditions of play did adversely affect our visitors, albeit it should be said that in each instance they were in the stronger position when stumps were drawn. If history could be turned back and a famous Winston Churchill aphorism about modesty adapted, it could be aptly applied to Tancred’s overall Test batting average of 21.20 from 14 matches. However, he made no mention of his own 97 and 24 in the First Test, nor of the great all-round form of ‘Buck’ Llewellyn who made 90 and took nine wickets, nor the other solid scoring of his team-mates. Jones captured the wickets of Tancred’s opening partner, William Shalders, in each innings, and middle-order Maitland Hathorn and wicket-keeper Ernest Halliwell in the first innings for match figures of 4 for 100, but his long and tiring run meant that he was precluded from bowling long spells. The South Africans were not privileged to witness Jones’ best efforts because the height the balls rose from the pitch suited the local batsmen and he was left out of the other Tests in favour of the spin of Saunders and Howell, while Victor Trumper took the new ball in one game. Jones’ only other match was the third tour game against Fifteen of Natal in which he went wicketless in fifteen overs in the first innings but captured 5 for 14 out of Natal’s six wickets to fall in the second. In a report in the Natal Witness the match was not taken very seriously and Jonah’s trundling was a revelation to spectators. In the first innings he was no faster than Natal medium pacers Dave Nourse and Bertram Cooley, and his length was poor. But second time around he was on the spot, his pace was terrific and the wickets went down with ludicrous ease. ***** The Australian team arrived home on the steamer Sophocles in early December, 1902 and Jones at least had a fortnight to settle in before the first interstate match against New South Wales at home. A Slow Dimming: 1900-1903 65