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Y
Full name Geraint Owen Jones
Born July 14, 1976, Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea
Current age 31 years 308 days
Major teams England,Kent,Kent 2nd XI
Nickname Jonesy
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Height
5 ft 10 in
Education Harristown State, Queensland
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
34
53
4
1172
100
23.91
2165
54.13
1
6
155
12
128
5
ODIs
49
41
8
815
80
24.69
1042
78.21
0
4
71
14
68
4
T20Is
2
2
1
33
19
33.00
25
132.00
0
0
5
0
2
0
First-class
96
140
17
3789
108*
30.80
6
22
292
19
List A
126
108
18
2138
86
23.75
2728
78.37
0
8
149
21
Twenty20
20
15
4
166
24*
15.09
146
113.69
0
0
15
4
11
4
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
34
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ODIs
49
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
T20Is
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
First-class
96
18
18
0
-
-
-
6.00
-
0
0
0
List A
126
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Twenty20
20
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Career statistics
Test debut
West Indies v England at St John's, Apr 10-14, 2004 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v England at Perth, Dec 14-18, 2006 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
England v West Indies at Nottingham, Jun 27, 2004 scorecard
Last ODI
England v Sri Lanka at Leeds, Jul 1, 2006 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut
England v Australia at Southampton, Jun 13, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I
England v Sri Lanka at Southampton, Jun 15, 2006 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut
2001
Last First-class
Nottinghamshire v Kent at Nottingham, May 7-10, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
2001
Last List A
Essex v Kent at Chelmsford, May 16, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Kent v Hampshire at Beckenham, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Gloucestershire v Kent at Birmingham, Aug 4, 2007 scorecard
Profile
No player better encapsulated the fluctuating fortunes of the 2005 Ashes series than Geraint Jones. Fast-tracked into the Test team at the expense of the superior gloveman, Chris Read, Jones contributed vital runs at key moments - none more important than his 85 in a stand of 177 with Andrew Flintoff at Trent Bridge - but produced so many fumbles that every edge became a heart-in-the-mouth moment. He clung on, however, to the one chance that really mattered, at the very end of England's two-run win at Edgbaston, and emerged from the series more or less in credit - if not with his place secure.
Born in Papua New Guinea to Welsh parents, Jones lived and learned his cricket in Australia until he was 22, and was almost 27 when he first came to the attention of the England selectors. But he had timed his run to perfection. In the 2003 season - Alec Stewart's last - Jones scored the best part of 1000 runs at an average of more than 50. After a brief stint at Glamorgan, he had moved to Kent, whose supporters are connoisseurs of fine keeping.
But his weight of runs in the 2nd XI was a major factor in Paul Nixon's controversial return to Leicestershire. Jones was rewarded with a call-up to England's Test squad to tour West Indies, and after displacing Read behind the stumps in the fourth and final Test in Antigua, he cemented his place with a thrilling century against New Zealand at Headingley, where his sixth-wicket alliance with Flintoff had England fans rubbing their hands with glee. His performances haven't quite attained the same heights, and though his counterpunching style remained good for a momentum-seizing half-century, he managed just two fifties in ten Tests before being dropped in favour of Chris Read in August 2006.
He regained the No. 1 slot for the 2006-07 Ashes - a controversial choice - but after three miserable Tests Duncan Fletcher was forced to hand the gloves back to Read. The emergence of Matt Prior in 2007 and the replacement of Fletcher, a fierce advocate of Jones's, with Peter Moores meant he slipped down the pecking order.
Jones still speaks in a soft Australian accent, and is a qualified pharmacy technician.
Andrew Miller May 2007
