Lead Up To The Ashes
In May, 2004, New Zealand toured England. Jones played in the first Test at Lord's, and took match figures of 4-146. England won the match by 7 wickets, but Jones did not play again for England until the West Indies returned to tour.
On the West Indies' return to England in July, 2004, Jones played just one match, again at Lord's, taking one wicket, before finding himself out of the Test lineup, but England went on to win the four match home series 4-0.
In December of that year, Jones was included in the England squad to tour Zimbabwe and South Africa. Jones won his One Day International debut in the third ODI against Zimbabwe on 4 December 2004. Jones took 2-43 at an economy of 5.375, as England won the match by 7 wickets. Jones then played in the final ODI, this time taking 1-33 at 4.12, with England again winning, this time by 74 runs, and completing the 4-0 series whitewash.
Jones then played in the first Test match in Johannesburg, dismissing Boeta Dippenaar in the first innings before taking 4-39 in the second, including the wicket of Jacques Kallis for 61. England won the match by 7 wickets, with Jones scoring 24 in the first innings. In the second Test at Kingsmead in Durban, Jones scored 21 in England's first innings, and took 2-117 in the match. The match was drawn, and England and Jones moved on to the third Test at Newlands. Here, Jones took 3-84 in the match, but found himself left out of the fourth Test, replaced by James Anderson. England won the fourth Test, but Jones was once again restored to the Test team for the final match of the series at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, Gauteng. Jones impressed with 4 wickets in the first innings, conceding just 47 runs, but took just one in the second, as England drew the match but won the series 2-1.
Jones then played both matches in the home Test series against Bangladesh, as England's four-man pace attack of Hoggard, Harmison, Flintoff and Jones prepared for the 2005 Ashes series. The pace attack tore through Bangladesh in the first innings of the first Test, dismissing them for 108, with Jones grabbing the wicket of Javed Omar, and conceding just 4 runs in 6 overs. In the second innings, the England seamers once again dismissed the Bangladeshis for a low score, this time just 159, with Jones picking up figures of 3-29 off 11 overs, while Flintoff, Hoggard and Harmison taking three, two and two wickets respectively, with England winning the match by an innings and 261 runs. The second Test took a similar course, as the England pacers took 19 of the 20 Bangladeshi wickets, with Jones taking 1-75 in the match, with England winning by an innings and 27 runs.
Read more about this topic: Simon Jones (cricketer)
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