Geraint Jones - England Career

England Career

He replaced Chris Read as England wicketkeeper during the 2004 tour of the West Indies. Later that year, he hit a Test match century against New Zealand, including fifteen fours and one six.

In the 2004/5 Winter tour of South Africa he took part in all of England's Test and One-day matches. Notably, he scored a quick 73 in the drawn Test match at Durban and stumped Andrew Hall from the last delivery of the tied One-day match in Bloemfontein. In 2005 he made five catches and scored 71 in a defiant partnership with Paul Collingwood to conjure a tie from the depths of 33/5 in the final of the NatWest Series against Australia at Lord's.

A fine moment in his Test Career was making the controversial catch of Michael Kasprowicz off the bowling of Steve Harmison, which won the Edgbaston Test in the 2005 Ashes Series by just two runs. Replays indicated that Michael Kasprowicz only had one hand on the bat, and the ball struck Kasprowicz's glove that was not touching the bat. Jones also played a major role in the Trent Bridge test, where he supported Andrew Flintoff to help him reach his century whilst making a tidy 85 himself.

In the 2006 New Year's Honours List, Jones was awarded the MBE for his role in the successful Ashes series. A succession of dropped catches and missed stumpings during his England career have caused many commentators to question whether his value to the team as a batsman is sufficient for him to hold his place against competition from more accomplished wicket-keepers such as Read and James Foster. Until mid-2006 the England selectors maintained faith in Jones believing that he offset his mistakes with several well-timed performances with the bat. His batting form tailed off and he was dropped in favour of Chris Read for the third Test against Pakistan in 2006. Despite this coinciding with Jones suffering a broken finger, it was stressed by David Graveney, the Chairman of Selectors, that Jones was dropped due to his form with the bat. Ironically, Jones initially gained his place in the England side because he was perceived to be a better batsman than Read.

Jones was not awarded a 12 month central contract for 2007, although neither was his rival for the England wicket keeper place, Chris Read. Both Jones and Read were selected for the 2006-07 Ashes series, and Read was dropped before the first Test in favour of Jones, as Jones was perceived as the stronger batsman.

After a dreadful showing in the 2006-07 Ashes series, including a pair in the third Test at Perth, where his second innings dismissal was an embarrassing run out by Ricky Ponting while waiting on an lbw call, Jones was omitted from the one-day squad to play Australia and New Zealand and has yet to regain his England place in any form of the game.