Geraint Owen Jones MBE (born 14 July 1976) is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, Jones was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team between 2004 and 2006. He later played international cricket for Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2014. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in July 2015 following his resignation as the first-class cricket captain of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.[1]
 Jones in 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Geraint Owen Jones | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 July 1976 Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National sides |
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| Test debut (cap 623) | 10 April 2004 England v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 14 December 2006 England v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 181/5) | 27 June 2004 England v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 9 November 2014 PNG v Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 5) | 13 June 2005 England v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 15 June 2006 England v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2014 | Kent (squad no. 9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | → Gloucestershire (on loan) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Gloucestershire (squad no. 8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 30 March 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal life
editJones was born in Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea, and moved to Australia with his parents, who were originally from Wales, soon after he was born. He grew up in Toowoomba where he played in the under 21 team in the annual Spring Street Church cricket match. He went on to play in Brisbane, Queensland, played for the Queensland Colts (Under-21) team, and was awarded the wicketkeeper's trophy for most dismissals in the Brisbane Grade Cricket competition in 1995/96 when he was 19/20. His first club in England was Lydney CC in the Forest of Dean but he returned to live in Australia until he was 22.[2] Upon his return to Britain he played for Clevedon CC. The following season he joined Abergavenny CC and was later appointed captain. Whilst at Abergavenny he trained as a pharmacist. He met his wife whilst playing for Clevedon; the couple has two sons.
After retiring, Jones joined Brentwood School as their cricket professional in November 2015.[3] He also worked as a business studies teacher. In 2019 he trained to become a retained firefighter with Kent Fire and Rescue Service.[4]
Career
editDomestic career
editJones spent most of his career playing for Kent County Cricket Club. He made his debut for Kent in 2001 after having played Second XI cricket for the side the previous season. He was capped by the side in 2003 and played in more than 380 top-class matches for Kent, making his final appearance for the side in 2013.[5][6] After losing his place in the Kent side to Sam Billings at the start of the 2014 season, Jones joined Gloucestershire on loan. He was released by Kent at the end of the season,[7] and signed a two-year deal with Gloucestershire in October 2014, but retired after only a year with the club.[8]
England career
edit
Jones replaced Chris Read as England wicket-keeper during the 2004 tour of the West Indies.[9] Later that year, playing against New Zealand, he scored his only Test match century.[10] He toured South Africa in 2004/05
In 2005 he took the final catch of the 2005 Ashes Test at Edgbaston, ensuring an England victory by two runs. In the 2006 New Year Honours, Jones was awarded the MBE for playing in the successful Ashes series.
A succession of dropped catches and missed stumpings during his England career had caused many commentators to question whether his value to the team as a batsman was sufficient for him to hold his place against competition from more accomplished wicket-keepers such as Read and James Foster. Until mid-2006 the England selectors maintained faith in Jones[11] believing that he offset his mistakes with several well-timed performances with the bat. His batting form tailed off and, after suffering a broken finger, he was replaced by Chris Read for the third Test against Pakistan in 2006.
Jones was not awarded a 12-month central contract for 2007, although neither was Read and both players were selected for the 2006-07 Ashes series. Jones played the first three matches of the series but was dropped after poor performances and never regained his England place.[12][13]
Papua New Guinea career
editJones played for Papua New Guinea in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates.[14] His best score was 46 off 33 balls in PNG's victory over Denmark.[6] Papua New Guinea finished eighth out of 16.
He played again for PNG in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, where he was a standout in the middle order for the side and provided much needed stability to the lineup, scoring 216 runs, with an average of 27 and a high score of 55. In early January 2014 he played in the 2014 WCQ held in NZ, top-scoring with 88 runs against Hong Kong, his highest score for PNG. PNG finished fourth in the tournament and were awarded One Day International and T20 International status by the International Cricket Council. Jones played in two ODI's for the side, both against Hong Kong in Townsville, Australia.
Career best performances
edit| Batting | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of cricket | Score | Fixture | Venue | Season |
| Test match | 100 | England v New Zealand | Leeds | 2004 |
| ODI | 80 | England v Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 2004 |
| T20I | 19 | England v Australia | Southampton | 2005 |
| First-class | 178 | Kent v Somerset | Canterbury | 2010 |
| List A | 87 | Gloucestershire v Leicestershire | Leicester | 2015 |
| Twenty20 | 56 | Kent v Sussex | Canterbury | 2009 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Geraint Jones to retire at end of season". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ Cricinfo. "Cricinfo – Players and Officials – Geraint Jones". Retrieved 17 September 2007.
- ^ Ashes-Winner Joins Brentwood School. Brentwoodschool.co.uk (4 September 2015). Retrieved on 2018-08-06.
- ^ "Jones fired up for future career". PCA. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ Geraint Jones, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ a b Geraint Jones, CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 August 2020. (subscription required)
- ^ Geraint Jones: Kent to release England's 2005 Ashes star, BBC Sport, 19 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Geraint Jones: 2005 Ashes winner to retire at end of season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- ^ Cricinfo. "England bring in Jones for Read". Retrieved 17 September 2007.
- ^ Cricinfo. "Jones century leads the way for England". Retrieved 17 September 2007.
- ^ "Geraint Jones". Cricinfo.
- ^ "Jones to return as Ashes keeper". BBC News. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2006.
- ^ Jones goes back to his roots, CricInfo, 16 January 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ "Former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones joins Papua New Guinea". The Guardian. London. 21 January 2012.
