Amy Ellen Jones is an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

and right-handed batter for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, Central Sparks,

Birmingham Phoenix Birmingham Phoenix are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Birmingham. The team represents the historic counties of Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the newly founded The Hundred competition, which began its inaugural se ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She made her England debut in 2013 and is a holder of an ECB central contract. On 8 September 2022, England's captain

Nat Sciver Natalie Ruth Sciver-Brunt (; ; born 20 August 1992) is an English cricketer. She was the first cricketer for England to take a hat-trick in a Women's Twenty20 International match. The " Natmeg" shot is named after Sciver, from when she has hit ...

announced that she decided to withdraw from their home white ball series against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

"to focus on her mental health and well being". In her absence, Jones was named as England's captain for the WT20I and WODI series.

Early life and career

Jones was born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

, West Midlands, and raised in nearby

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

, where she attended

John Willmott School John Willmott School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. There are 1,186 students on roll, of whom 230 are in the sixth form. Students from a White British background repr ...

. Her first experience of organised sport was playing on a boys' football team for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

; she then joined Walmley Cricket Club and rose rapidly through the ranks. She has since commented: While still in her mid-teens, Jones represented the Warwickshire Academy and began to be selected for England Development and Academy programmes. In 2011, when she was 18, she was called up to the England Women's Academy at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

. 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.

Career

Jones was the holder of one of the first tranche of 18 ECB central contracts for women players, which were announced in April 2014. In April 2015, Jones was named as one of the England women's Academy squad tour to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, where England women played their Australian counterparts in two 50-over games, and two Twenty20 matches. A member of the 2015

Women's Ashes The Women's Ashes is the perpetual trophy in women's international cricket series between England and Australia. The name derives from the historic precedent of the Ashes in male cricket and, until 2013, was similarly decided exclusively on the ...

squad, she played in the one-day matches but was replaced in the squad by

Fran Wilson Frances Claire Wilson (born 7 November 1991) is an English cricketer. A right handed batter and right arm off break bowler, she was born in Farnham in Surrey and plays for Gloucestershire, Western Storm and Welsh Fire. She previously played ...

. In October 2018, she was named in England's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Ind ...

tournament in the West Indies. In November 2018, she was named in the

Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers is an Australian domestic Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing the Western Australian city of Perth in the Big Bash League (BBL). The Scorchers are the current BBL Champions, having defeated the Sydney Sixers in the ...

' squad for the

2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season The 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season or WBBL, 04 was the fourth season of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), the semi-professional women's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 1 December 2018 to 26 ...

. In February 2019, she was awarded a full central contract by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) for 2019. In June 2019, the ECB named her in England's squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the

. The following month, she was also named in England's Test squad for the one-off match against Australia. She made her Test debut for England against Australia women on 18 July 2019. 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. In January 2020, she was named in England's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts Aus ...

in Australia. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She featured in all five matches, making a match best score of 55 in the fourth T20I. In June 2021, Jones was named in England's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

squad for their one-off match against India. In December 2021, Jones was named in England's squad for their tour to Australia to contest the

. In February 2022, she was named in England's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand where they finished runners up after losing to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In April 2022, she was bought by the

for the 2022 season of The Hundred. In June 2022, she was named the

2022 Charlotte Edwards Cup The 2022 Charlotte Edwards Cup was the second edition of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, an English women's cricket Women's Twenty20, Twenty20 domestic competition, which took place between 14 May and 11 June 2022. It featured eight teams playing in ...

Player of the Year by the PCA, scoring 289 runs in 8 games for Central Sparks, the most across the entire competition. In July 2022, she was named in England's team for the cricket tournament at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. In September 2022, due to the absence of captain Heather Knight and vice captain

, Jones was made captain of England for their home white ball series against India.

Personal life

Jones is in a relationship with

Piepa Cleary Piepa May Cleary (born 17 July 1996) is an Australian cricketer who took 12 wickets in 14 games during the 2013–14 Women's National Cricket League season, 2013–14 WNCL season after debuting in December 2012. The right-arm bowler was select ...

, 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 North West Thunder, commonly referred to as Thunder, are a women's cricket team that represent Lancashire and North West England, one of eight regional hubs in English domestic women's cricket. They play their home matches at various grounds, i ...

. Jones and Cleary are now both based in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

, Leicestershire.

Honours

* Walter Lawrence Women's Award winner: 2021

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Amy 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Solihull England women Test cricketers England women One Day International cricketers England women Twenty20 International cricketers Central Sparks cricketers Loughborough Lightning cricketers Perth Scorchers (WBBL) cricketers Sydney Sixers (WBBL) cricketers Sydney Thunder (WBBL) cricketers Warwickshire women cricketers Western Australia women cricketers LGBT cricketers Lesbian sportswomen English LGBT sportspeople Birmingham Phoenix cricketers 21st-century British LGBT people Wicket-keepers Cricketers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Cricketers from the West Midlands