JonES Can riSE
for ThE aShES
Simon Jones might be on crutches next year and hopefully I can be a part of that, That was quite a dramatic turnaround from 2007
following his latest knee operation, especially as the first Test is in Cardiff .” when there were even rumblings and rumour
but he remains totally upbeat about Jones’s stop-start career was heading towards
making next year’s ashes series Jones is not short of confidence following his bankruptcy and going the same way as father Jeff
starting with England ’s opening Test debut summer at New Road where he went a who was forced to retire with an elbow injury at
clash against australia at the Swalec long way to proving Glamorgan wrong. just 26.
Stadium in July.
“To get four five-wicket hauls in the championship When Jones did play in 2007 there was little spark
The injury-plagued Welsh seamer has been was a great feeling, but the brightest thing for me to his bowling and certainly not much confidence
out of action since August after undergoing was that I have been bowling at more than 90mph in the left knee that had career-saving surgery in
necessary surgery in London , but that was after again when there were people like Ashley Giles 2006. He lumbered awkwardly to the wicket like a
an encouraging first season with Worcestershire who had doubted whether I could be that quick man expecting his unreliable body to break down
which saw him harvest 42 County Championship again,” he admitted. again at any moment.
wickets in nine games at an impressive average
of 18. “In a one-day game at Hampshire I recorded 91 But as well as the difference in stats there has
or 92mph. I was pretty wound up in that game been a noticeable change in body language. Jones
Another few weeks of hobbling around and the not least by some Hampshire supporter who kept ran in hard to the wicket, bowling with decent
29-year-old should be ready for a New Year shouting out ‘I hope your knee blows up’. With all pace and rhythm, and resembling something close
return to bowling and he is determined to make I’ve been through I can do without those sorts of to the form which made him a 2005 Ashes hero.
an impact ahead of the Ashes summer and carry comments to be honest.”
on where he left off in 2008. Jones has been stuck on 18 caps since ever since
His knee did ‘blow up’ but not quite as seriously he was forced to miss the fifth and deciding Ashes
“It’s like anything – if I start next season as well as as the Hampshire fan might have hoped. Test in ‘05 with an ankle injury. And by the end
I started this one and the other boys aren’t firing of this summer he had seen a total of 64 caps go
as they would want, then you never know,” said “I had an operation in London on August 26 begging since he made his debut against India at
the Llanelli product. and I’m on crutches for a few weeks, but the Lord’s in 2002. It is a statistic which just goes to
important thing is that the knee is fine. highlight the injury and rehabilitation misery the
“I still have massive aspirations to play for England Welshman has had to endure.
and that will keep me going over the winter. “I needed the operation jut to tidy everything
up. It was maintenance sort of thing rather than But in between that misery Jones did enough in
“I made England ’s 30-man squad this summer so anything serious. I’ll be fine for next season and the first four Ashes Tests of ‘05 – 21 wickets at 18
there’s no reason why i can’t again. be back bowling in January or february. – to help cricket knock football off the back pages
in that balmy summer.
“KP ( England captain Kevin Pietersen) has gone “I’ve got a rehab programme which I will be
on record saying he is disappointed I won’t be on sticking to rigidly.” The exposure he gained from that amazing
the England tour of India this winter. I know he summer three years ago transformed him into hot
rates me so that keeps me going as well. Despite his continued injury worries the form tabloid and glossy magazine property. He became
he showed this summer was recognised by the the male face of Jaeger and was linked with the
“Not all is lost as far as the Ashes series is England selectors who picked the Welsh bowler likes of supermodel Jodie Kidd.
concerned. in a provisional 30-man squad for the ICC
Champions Trophy. A survey of the 100 sexiest men of 2006 in New
‘’I can’t see anyone in that side ( England ) who Woman magazine saw voted in at No. 9 ahead of
can keep me out when I’m bowling well. The move over the border to England seemed such iconic sex symbols as George Clooney and
to have inspired a new-found confidence which David Beckham. Andrew Flintoff could only make
‘’I know that when I start bowling consistently was conspicuous by its absence during an injury- number 54.
well I will be pushing. You have to have that self- ravaged final couple of years at Glamorgan.
belief in yourself. There is competition in the side In recognition of his achievements there was the
with Ryan Sidebottom establishing himself in the He only managed four LV County Championship MBE and the accolade of being named as one of
side and Stuart Broad coming in and that can appearances last season and got through just 89 Wisden’s five Cricketers of 2006.
only be healthy for England cricket but I would be overs for a very modest one for 290. Compare
confident of getting back in. that to the start of 2008: in his first five four-day Jones is not one to actively exploit the cult of
games for his new county he bagged 24 wickets at celebrity but despite all his setbacks he is still
‘’I have had a taste of it and then you want to an average of just 10.54. desperate to rise back up the fast bowling pecking
experience it again. The Aussies are coming back order in English cricket.
sportingwales
issue4twothousand&eight
SW_Issue4.indd 47 9/10/08 15:34:04
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