Early Career
A tall (6' 3.5") right-arm fast-medium bowler and left-handed tail end batsman, Jones, whose father, Jeffrey had played for England and Glamorgan, made his county cricket debut for Glamorgan against Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on 22 August 1998.
Jones made his Test match debut at Lord's Cricket Ground against India on 25 July 2002, at the age of 23. After making an impressive 44 from 43 deliveries with the bat, Jones ended the Indian first innings with figures of 2-61 off 21 overs, dismissing Ajay Ratra and Ajit Agarkar. In England's second innings, Jones did not bat as England declared for 301-6, setting India a target of 568 to win. As India chased, Jones took 2-68, bowling Virender Sehwag and having VVS Laxman caught by Michael Vaughan for 74, with England winning the match by 170 runs. Jones was left out of the subsequent three Tests, with the four-match series ending in a 1-1 draw.
After impressing in that one Test, Jones was then selected for the 2002/2003 Ashes tour. However, on the first morning of the first Test at Brisbane Cricket Ground, having bowled 7 overs and taken the wicket of Justin Langer, he suffered a severe injury, rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament while sliding to field a ball. After a lengthy recovery period, he was fit in time to tour the Caribbean.
Read more about this topic: Simon Jones (cricketer)
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