Amy Ellen Jones is an English cricketer who plays as a wicket-keeper and right-handed batter for Warwickshire, Birmingham Phoenix, Perth Scorchers and England. She made her England debut in 2013 and is a holder of an ECB central contract.[1][2]

Amy Jones
Jones during WBBL|04, 2018
Personal information
Full name
Amy Ellen Jones
Born (1993-06-13) 13 June 1993 (age 31)
Solihull, West Midlands, England
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicket-keeper
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 160)18 July 2019 v Australia
Last Test14 December 2023 v India
ODI debut (cap 121)1 February 2013 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI3 July 2024 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.40
T20I debut (cap 33)5 July 2013 v Pakistan
Last T20I11 July 2024 v New Zealand
T20I shirt no.40
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2008–presentWarwickshire
2016–2019Loughborough Lightning
2016/17–2017/18Sydney Sixers
2017/18Western Australia
2018/19–2020/21Perth Scorchers
2020–2024Central Sparks
2021–presentBirmingham Phoenix
2022/23Sydney Thunder
2023/24–presentPerth Scorchers
2023/24–presentWestern Australia
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WLA
Matches 6 91 107 180
Runs scored 116 1,951 1,515 4,455
Batting average 12.88 28.69 21.04 30.72
100s/50s 0/1 0/14 0/5 6/25
Top score 64 94 89 163*
Catches/stumpings 14/0 75/18 51/37 134/74
Source: CricketArchive, 18 December 2023

On 8 September 2022, England's captain Nat Sciver announced that she decided to withdraw from their home white ball series against India "to focus on her mental health and well being".[3] In her absence, Jones was named as England's captain for the WT20I and WODI series.[4]

Early life and career

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Jones was born in Solihull, West Midlands,[5] and raised in nearby Sutton Coldfield,[6] where she attended John Willmott School.[7] Her first experience of organised sport was playing on a boys' football team for Aston Villa; she then joined Walmley Cricket Club and rose rapidly through the ranks. She has since commented:

"Some of my mates played cricket at the local club and I went down there. They had a girls' team and a successful ladies' team which wasn't common at the time. So, I was lucky and it was quite straightforward. They had good links with Warwickshire and I had a trial at Edgbaston at 13 and I went on from there."[8]

While still in her mid-teens, Jones represented the Warwickshire Academy and began to be selected for England Development and Academy programmes.[5] In 2011, when she was 18, she was called up to the England Women's Academy at Loughborough University. By then, she was an accomplished wicket-keeper, and had already had her keeping assessed on occasional training sessions at the academy. Soon after her callup, she was informed she was to become a full-time member of the academy and deputy to then regular England team wicket-keeper Sarah Taylor.[8]

Career

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Jones was the holder of one of the first tranche of 18 ECB central contracts for women players, which were announced in April 2014.[9] In April 2015, Jones was named as one of the England women's Academy squad tour to Dubai, where England women played their Australian counterparts in two 50-over games, and two Twenty20 matches.[10] A member of the 2015 Women's Ashes squad, she played in the one-day matches but was replaced in the squad by Fran Wilson.[11]

 
Jones batting for England during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

In October 2018, she was named in England's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.[12][13] In November 2018, she was named in the Perth Scorchers' squad for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season.[14][15]

In February 2019, she was awarded a full central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for 2019.[16][17]

In June 2019, the ECB named her in England's squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the Women's Ashes.[18][19] The following month, she was also named in England's Test squad for the one-off match against Australia.[20] She made her Test debut for England against Australia women on 18 July 2019.[21]

Upon the retirement of Sarah Taylor in late 2019, Jones became the first choice wicket-keeper for the England team. By then, she had already kept wicket in 42 of her 80 England matches across all formats.[22] In January 2020, she was named in England's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia.[23]

On 18 June 2020, Jones was named in a squad of 24 players to begin training ahead of international women's fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.[24][25] She featured in all five matches, making a match best score of 55 in the fourth T20I.[26]

In June 2021, Jones was named in England's Test squad for their one-off match against India.[27][28] In December 2021, Jones was named in England's squad for their tour to Australia to contest the Women's Ashes.[29] In February 2022, she was named in England's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand where they finished runners up after losing to Australia.[30]

In April 2022, she was bought by the Birmingham Phoenix for the 2022 season of The Hundred.[31] In June 2022, she was named the 2022 Charlotte Edwards Cup Player of the Year by the PCA, scoring 289 runs in 8 games for Central Sparks, the most across the entire competition.[32] In July 2022, she was named in England's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.[33]

In September 2022, due to the absence of captain Heather Knight and vice captain Nat Sciver, Jones was made captain of England for their home white ball series against India.[34][35]

She was named in the England squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.[36] In November 2024, Jones joined The Blaze for the 2025 domestic season.[37][38] Later that month she was named in the England squad for their tour of South Africa.[39][40]

Personal life

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Jones is in a relationship with Piepa Cleary, a seam bowler from Australia who plays for the Perth Scorchers. In 2021, after the relationship had been a long-distance one for some years, Cleary relocated to England and started playing for North West Thunder. Jones and Cleary are now both based in Loughborough, Leicestershire.[41] On 23 July 2024, the couple announced their engagement.[citation needed]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Player profile: Amy Jones". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ "England women's squad - contracted players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Nat Sciver to miss India series". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Nat Sciver pulls out of India series to 'focus on mental health and wellbeing'". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Amy Jones". edgbaston.com. Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  6. ^ Staff writer (12 January 2021). "Amy Jones: Birmingham 2022 "a light at the end of the tunnel"". edgbaston.com. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  7. ^ Staff writer (8 July 2011). "Young Amy is happy to bide her time". BusinessLive. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  8. ^ a b Staff writer. "Amy Jones". Birmingham Living. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  9. ^ "England women earn 18 new central contracts". BBC. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Lauren Winfield: Injured batter misses England Academy tour". BBC. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  11. ^ "BBC Sport – Women's Ashes 2015: Fran Wilson named in England squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  12. ^ "England name Women's World T20 squad". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Three uncapped players in England's Women's World T20 squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  14. ^ "WBBL04: All you need to know guide". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  15. ^ "The full squads for the WBBL". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Freya Davies awarded England Women contract ahead of India tour". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  17. ^ "Freya Davies 'thrilled' at new full central England contract". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Fran Wilson called into England squad for Ashes ODI opener against Australia". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  19. ^ "England announce squad for opening Women's Ashes ODI". Times and Star. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Women's Ashes: Kirstie Gordon & Katherine Brunt in England Test squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Only Test, Australia Women tour of England at Taunton, Jul 18-21 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  22. ^ Howson, Nick (19 October 2019). "Amy Jones: Replacing Sarah Taylor, cricket's relationship with mental health and a career-defining six months". The Cricketer. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  23. ^ "England Women announce T20 World Cup squad and summer fixtures". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  24. ^ "England Women confirm back to training plans". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  25. ^ "England Women return to training with September tri-series on the cards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  26. ^ "West Indies Women tour of England 2020". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Emily Arlott earns call-up to England Women Test squad". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Emily Arlott earns maiden call-up as England announce squad for India Test". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  29. ^ "Heather Knight vows to 'fight fire with fire' during Women's Ashes". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  30. ^ "Charlie Dean, Emma Lamb in England's ODI World Cup squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  31. ^ "The Hundred 2022: latest squads as Draft picks revealed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  32. ^ "Jones wins Charlotte Edwards Cup Award". PCA. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Alice Capsey named in England's Commonwealth Games squad, Tammy Beaumont omitted". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Nat Sciver withdraws from India series". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  35. ^ "Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp earn first England Women ODI call-ups". English Cricket Board. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  36. ^ "England Women squad named for ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  37. ^ "England wicketkeeper-batter Jones joins Blaze for 2025". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  38. ^ "THE BLAZE BOLSTERED AS JONES MOVES TO TRENT BRIDGE". Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  39. ^ "Uncapped Bouchier and Kemp in England Test squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  40. ^ "England drop Alice Capsey for South Africa T20Is, include two uncapped players for Test match". Wisden. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  41. ^ Jolly, Laura (25 June 2021). "Cleary follows her heart in search of a fresh start". Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  42. ^ "Walter Lawrence Trophy 2021: Amy's Sparkler". The Walter Lawrence Trophy. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  43. ^ "Hall of Fame: Walter Lawrence Women's Award". The Walter Lawrence Trophy. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

Further reading

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  Media related to Amy Jones (cricketer) at Wikimedia Commons