Stylish runs for Amy Jones, whose batting looks back to its best

NICK FRIEND AT DERBY: Like all the best touch players, their strength is also their weakness. When all is in sync, there is no one better to watch in England’s side; when she is fighting for rhythm, the struggle feels that little bit tougher

Amy Jones has waited some time for this moment – not for it all to click back into place, but for everything to translate itself back into weight of runs.

By her own admission, these have not been easy months, even if the pandemic-enforced break did at least give her an opportunity to step away from the pressures of international cricket.

She spoke to the team’s new psychologist over FaceTime and came back refreshed – not a new player, but the player that English cricket knows she can be.

In the first three months of 2020, she made 69 runs in seven innings for England, beginning the year at the top of the order – the choice of Lisa Keightley, her coach at Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash, before her lack of form saw her cede her position to Tammy Beaumont, consequentially dropping down into the middle order.

Since cricket’s return, she has helped herself to 106 runs in four games. This was the best she had looked for some time – a first T20I half century for 13 innings, a first ever on home soil. Like all the best touch players, their strength is their weakness: one side of the coin comes with the other. When all is in sync, there is no one better to watch in England’s side; when she is fighting for rhythm, the struggle feels that little bit tougher.

In her series-long column with The Cricketer, Jones admitted only last week that the international circuit could be a challenging place when short on runs.

“Games just come so thick and fast; with how much we tour these days, which is brilliant, it can take its toll,” she said.

“In T20 cricket, you can only go about it one way. You have to be positive and you have to take risks. If you are short of runs, you still have to go out and play the same way. You are expected to go out there, play your shots and set the tone.

“That can be hard if you’re a bit low on confidence. It can affect you; you’re waiting for the game where it clicks. It was a tough time; I don’t think it was as tough for me as it probably looked on the outside.

“I got some scores in the warmup games and in a game against Australia Academy, so I actually went into the World Cup with a bit of confidence.

“It wasn’t as doom and gloom as it might have appeared, but it didn’t go my way in the first few games. Moving down the order was a big blow to me, really. I’d had my opportunity and I was gutted to move down, but it’s a team game and you have to fit in where it’s best.”

^{Jones struck her first T20I half century since December}

And at No.5, she has found herself a niche. Heather Knight apart, no one has looked more comfortable when starting against spin, nor when pushing to accelerate. Jones has a knack for playing the right shot at the right time, looking to hit the ball straighter than several of her teammates.

Few in the women’s game are as languid in their batsmanship. Only in the final over did she ever appear as though she might even threaten to overhit the ball, swinging to leg in a way that seems so unnatural for someone so at one with her timing.

Just twice in England’s WT20I history have they scored more runs in the second half of an innings than this evening when, for a short moment, they ignited. It was only a brief foray into fifth gear but, all of a sudden, Knight and Jones entered overdrive, having been somewhat marooned at 54 for 3 after ten overs.

Keightley has implored her players to establish a fearlessness in their attitude with the bat, to inject themselves with a sense of reckless abandon that matches up to the depth in their line-up.

And so, from no real base, England wreaked some considerable havoc. It all seemed to hinge on a swept six from Knight over backward square leg – the catalyst for a spell of nine boundaries in 15 balls, with the pair adding 65 runs in 35 deliveries, including 51 in 3.1 overs from the beginning of the 11th over.

While Knight began the onslaught, Jones soon took the reins. She check-drove for six over mid-off – very possibly the shot of the series for its pleasing melange of culture and timing, with a backswing that dripped with golden perfection. Soon afterwards, she went again, pulling over deep midwicket for a second six, this time with a dismissive power only shown in this series by Nat Sciver and Deandra Dottin.

Jones remains a player of enormous potential for England – they will have reason to hope that she has not yet reached her ceiling, having spent the first portion of her international life effectively as an understudy to Sarah Taylor’s impeccable hands, often playing as a specialist batsman as a result.

^{Jones and Heather Knight set up England's win with a fine partnership that shifted the game's momentum}

In the first five years after her debut in 2013, she played 18 WT20Is and batted 11 times before passing 15 in England colours. Yet, since then she has grown exponentially; at 27 years of age, she remains the youngest of England’s batting unit, but, one senses, with oodles of progression still yet to be fully explored.

Behind the stumps, her glovework has been mostly tidy, though she has developed an unusual problem under the high ball in this series, shelling three opportunities that she would normally expect to take, given the expectations she sets of herself.

For the tourists, Jones’ fifty ruined a promising start given to them by Aaliyah Alleyne, whose international career read as a somewhat curious mishmash ahead of Monday evening. A T20I batting average of 9.33 and a career-best score of 10 in seven games; one solitary wicket – of Jemimah Rodrigues – at an average of 86. In three of those encounters, she didn’t bowl.

The second match of this series was one such evening; she departed as quickly and quietly as she arrived, left out for the third game to little fanfare.

And then, with two dead rubbers left to play in the context of a series already secured by England, Alleyne returned with the new ball to dismiss both Danni Wyatt and Sciver. Her spell was quicker, skiddier and more threatening than anything else served up by the visitors so far, leaving just one question on the lips of observers: where had she been?

West Indies have been a side searching admirably for a formula with which to cause their hosts any prolonged problems. At times – not least in the first quarter of this balmy Derby evening, they have provided some temporary concern, but never with the wherewithal to match England over any length of time.

None of that should come as any surprise, given the several disparities between the two nations. For one, while the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy came to an end on Sunday, West Indies’ most recent regional competition was played out 18 months ago.

That, though, is a conversation for another day. With the bat at least, this was Jones’ night: a stylish player scoring stylish runs. Is there any better sight?

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