The mastery of reverse swing Simon Jones possessed was critical to England’s success in the epic Ashes series of 2005. But by the time he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year the following spring, his injury curse had struck again. Steve James tributes a short, but defiant career.
Sadly, injuries meant Simon Jones never played another Test for England. His final figures were 59 wickets at 28.23 in just 18 matches.
How sweet it is to disprove the doubters. And Simon Jones did that in some style during the 2005 Ashes series. By topping England’s bowling with 18 wickets at an average of 21, the perceived weak link in England’s attack had metamorphosed into someone almost indispensable.
It was no coincidence that Jones’s advances mirrored those of the successful England team. No coincidence either that England struggled desperately without him after his ankle impingement became too painful in the second innings of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge. They laboured even more to replace him at The Oval.
Until 2005, there had always been question marks hanging over Jones, and not just over his fitness. His unconventional bowling action, his run-up, his no-ball problems, his accuracy, his reluctance to use the new ball and his unfamiliarity with the one-day game … all these had been cited, often with some justification, as probable hindrances to him becoming the finished article as an international fast bowler.
Trusting his bowling has not come readily. His county, Glamorgan, declined to select him in 2004 for a Championship match against Hampshire when England released him from their squad. Three other seamers were deemed to be in sharper form in a settled side. That upset Jones and much placation was required, amid understandable interest from a number of other counties, before he signed a new deal in early 2005.
Duncan Fletcher’s role as Glamorgan coach helped him gain selection for the National Academy in 2001-02. Although he returned with an extraordinarily short run up – soon lengthened at Fletcher’s instigation – Jones’s Test debut came against India that summer.
Crucially, Jones had experimented with reverse swing at the Academy nets (Waqar Younis was not his tutor at Glamorgan, as widely presumed – they never played together). But his new skill did not register with a wider audience until a bewitching spell at Lord’s against New Zealand in 2004, signalling how different a bowler Jones was going to be post-injury: slightly slower maybe, but quick enough and growing in confidence and skill. During the South African tour in 2004-05 his accuracy improved remarkably, a result of the work done with England’s bowling coach, Troy Cooley, not just a mentor but “one of my best mates”, says Jones.
And it all came together to befuddle the Australians in 2005. At Old Trafford, when play began late on the third day, Vaughan even turned to Jones first. His 6-53 there surpassed his father’s 6-118 at Adelaide in 1965-66, the previous best by a Glamorgan bowler for England. Jones junior had arrived: now not only trusted, but rightly lauded.
