Jones’s Splendid Bowling Effort

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30973, 1 February 1966, Page 3

Jones’s Splendid Bowling Effort

[From W. J. O'REILLY, N.Z.P.A. special correspondent] ADELAIDE.

Hope revived for England early yesterday when J. Jones, its fast left-hander, turned on a magnificent bowling effort to collect six wickets and ruin Australia’s hopes of piling on a lot of runs quickly.

Jones turned on a splendid bowling performance. Looking down his list of victims you will notice that five of them are top-ranking batsmen and the other, T. Veivers, an accomplished all-rounder. It was bad luck for him that M. J, K. Smith had called so heavily upon his courage and physical strength, that he was not asked to have a crack at the tailenders.

Still, six wickets under the circumstances add up to one of the best fast bowling efforts I have seen.

The reasons for this young man’s success were simple. He maintained splendid length, gave the job all the energy and enthusiasm he could muster and continually moved the ball away aggravatingly from righthanded batsmen. Like McKenzie he got the occasional ball to lift awkwardly about the line of the off stump straight enough, anyhow, to make the batsmen attempt to cover it carefully.

fellow improvised a shot which resembled an overarm version of a square-cut with fatal results. But hope for England faded fast when McKenzie and Hawke spreadeagled their two openers, Boycott and Barber, for 31 runs. To save this game England faces an appalling job. With 12 hours to play, and with three of its most accomplished batsmen out of the line, it must bat long enough to make certain Australia is not given sufficient time to make enough runs for an .outright win. That sounds like a job specially reserved for Hercules.

Jones bowled with intelligence throughout. The striking example of this was the determination to give P. Burge every opportunity to use his lofted hook shot which can get him so often into trouble. It was wretched luck for him in this, that G. Boycott dropped a catch at deep fine leg. D. Walters fell foul of a Jones “lifter.” The young