Amy Jones’ lack of game awareness has come under the scanner after a bizarre decision to not rotate the strike led to England’s 21-run loss against Australia in the second ODI.
Despite finishing as the highest scorer for England in the second ODI with 47 not out, Jones was blamed for her lack of game awareness that cost her side the match after a bizarre moment of cricket. With England down to 159-9 in the 48th over, Jones surprisingly didn’t try to run off the final two deliveries of the over, one of which was a no ball.
This exposed tail-ender Lauren Bell to take the strike in the following over and she got cleaned up on the first ball bowled by Megan Schutt, sealing Australia’s victory.
“I hate to say it but the game awareness of some of the full-blown pros playing for Eng ain’t great (understatement). They want to be held to professional standards: well, they’re not being met,” Isabelle Westbury wrote on X.
Alex Hartley: Amy Jones has just had a complete mind blank there
The decision to not switch the strike ahead of the final over also left former England cricketer Alex Hartley dumbfounded. "Why have they not run? Why haven't they run? I'm going to say it again, why haven't they run? Lauren Bell's on strike, Amy Jones has just had a complete mind blank there,” she said on air.
“She's just thinking about facing all the balls. It was the last ball of the over, it was a free hit. Amy Jones can't believe what she's done. She's leaning on her bat thinking, 'What has just happened? What have I done?'"
Former international cricketer Isabelle Westbury, too, questioned the game awareness of “some of the full-blown pros playing for Eng”, though she did not name anyone specifically.
It wasn’t the first time in the match that Jones's game awareness had come under scrutiny: in the 44th and 45th overs, she had exposed Bell to Ash Gardner and Megan Schutt. With 29 runs needed off 24 balls, Jones also took a single off the first ball of the 47th over, bowled by Schutt, exposing Bell to five deliveries and denting England’s winning chances.
Having lost both the ODIs so far, England have already conceded the series loss to Australia.
Follow Wisden for all T20 World Cup updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
