JONES GETS HIS CAP 50 YEARS ON THANKS TO SPORTSMAIL
GLAMORGAN legend Alan Jones has become England’s 696th Test cricketer — 50 years on from his only appearance in a game later denied Test status by the ICC. The ECB’s decision to award Jones, now aged 81, a retrospective navy blue cap was prompted by his interview with Sportsmail last month, when he expressed his decadeslong disappointment at not being regarded as a fully-fledged Test player. Now, following a surprise presentation on Zoom attended by board chairman Colin Graves, Test captain Joe Root and Welsh cricket greats, Jones can finally wear his new cap and his old blazer — which has languished for half a century in a wardrobe at his home near Swansea — with pride.
‘I still have my blazer and tie,’ he said. ‘I don’t care what anybody says — to represent England in a Test match at Lord’s was something very special in my career, and I will look at this cap with fond memories. Being No 696 will stay with me for ever.’ The presentation took place 50 years to the day since he walked out to open the batting against a Rest of the World side drafted in to replace South Africa because of fears over anti-apartheid demonstrations.