Evelyn Jones (born 8 August 1992) 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 str ...

er who currently

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Central Sparks, as well as playing 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-Av ...

and Birmingham Phoenix. She plays primarily as a left-handed

opening batter In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., i ...

, as well as

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

left-arm

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

. She has previously played for

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, Staffordshire and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, as well as for Loughborough Lightning and

Lancashire Thunder Lancashire Thunder were an English women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Manchester, Lancashire that competed in England’s women's Twenty20 competition, the Women's Cricket Super League. Thunder played their home matches at Old Trafford and va ...

in the

Women's Cricket Super League The Women's Cricket Super League (WCSL), known as the Kia Super League (KSL) for sponsorship reasons, was a semi-professional women's Twenty20 cricket competition in England and Wales operated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The comp ...

, New Zealand side

Canterbury Magicians The Canterbury Magicians is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Canterbury. They play their home games at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the ...

and Women's Big Bash League team

Melbourne Renegades The Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash ...

. At the end of the 2021 season, Jones was voted the

PCA Player of the Year The PCA Player of the Year Awards are a set of annual cricket awards. Awards are given for the Men's Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, Men's Young Player of the Year and Women's Young Player of the Year, presented to the player who ...

for her performances that year.

Early life

Jones was born on 8 August 1992 in Shrewsbury,

. She has an ECB Level 2 coaching qualification, and has worked as a tutor.

Domestic career

County cricket

Jones made her county debut in 2008, for

against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. Whilst her team lost the match, she top-scored for her side, scoring 50. Jones quickly became one of Shropshire's most successful players, and was their leading run-scorer in both their 2010 and 2011 County Championship seasons. She also achieved her best List A bowling figures in 2011, taking 6/29 against

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. Jones moved to Staffordshire ahead of the 2012 season. She was again successful at her new club, ending the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015 and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Championship seasons as Staffordshire's leading run-scorer. In 2015, she achieved her best List A score of 115 *, and was the second leading run-scorer across the whole Championship. She was also captain of the side for the 2016 season. In 2017, Jones moved to

, and was part of the side that won the double of the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

and

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

that season. Jones hit 35 * in their crucial victory that secured the Championship title over

. She became captain of the side the following season, and in 2019 lead them to 2nd in the

. In 2020, it was announced that Jones had signed for

. She scored 135 runs for the side in the

2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2021 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Vitality Women's County T20, was the 12th cricket Women's Twenty20 Cup tournament, taking place in April and May, with 36 teams taking part: 34 county teams plus Scotland ...

, including a high score of 66 made against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. She played four matches for the side in the

2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup The 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Vitality Women's County T20, was the 13th edition of the Women's Twenty20 Cup, an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition. It took place in April and May 20 ...

, scoring 137 runs at an average of 45.66. In a match against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Jones made her Twenty20 high score, 93 * from 60 deliveries.

Regional cricket

Jones played in the

, in 2016 for Loughborough Lightning and from 2017 to 2019 for

. Her best innings came in a 2018 match against

Southern Vipers The Southern Vipers are a women's cricket team that represent the South of England. The Vipers wear an orange and black kit and play their home matches at the Ageas Bowl and the County Cricket Ground, Hove. They are currently coached by former ...

, in which she scored 69 in a 4 run victory. In 2020, she joined Central Sparks for the 2020 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, and was named as captain. She was her side's top run-scorer in the competition (and fourth across all teams), scoring 334 runs at an average of 66.80. She also equalled her List A career high score, scoring 115 * in Sparks' final group game, against

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

. In 2021, Jones captained Sparks to the knockout stages of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. She was also the third-highest run-scorer in the competition, with 299 runs including two half-centuries and one century, 100 * made against North West Thunder. Jones was the leading run-scorer in the

Charlotte Edwards Cup The Charlotte Edwards Cup, initially named the Women's Regional T20, is an English women's cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2021. The tourn ...

, with 276 runs including 3 half-centuries. She made her

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

high score against South East Stars, scoring 76 from 68 deliveries. Jones also played for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, and was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the competition, with 233 runs including two half-centuries. At the end of the 2021 season, Jones was named as the first-ever PCA Women's Overall Domestic MVP for her performances in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Charlotte Edwards Cup and The Hundred, and was later voted the overall

. In 2022, she scored 213 runs in the

as she captained her side to the final, as well as scoring 224 runs in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Jones scored 91 in Sparks' defeat to Northern Diamonds in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. She was also ever-present for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, scoring 99 runs in six matches. In 2023, she was the third-highest run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, with 440 runs at an average of 44.00, including four half-centuries. She was also again ever-present for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, scoring 83 runs.

Overseas cricket

Jones played one season for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in 2017–18, with her best performance coming against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, where she scored 81. In September 2021, Jones signed for the

for the 2021–22 Women's Big Bash League season. She played 12 matches for the side, scoring 236 runs at an average of 23.60, including making 62 from 46 deliveries in the side's victory over

Brisbane Heat The Brisbane Heat are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Heat wears a teal uniform and are based in Brisbane in the Australian state Queensland. Their home ground is the Br ...

. Ahead of the 2022–23 Women's Big Bash League season, Jones again signed for Melbourne Renegades, this time for the first two matches of the season as a replacement for

Harmanpreet Kaur Harmanpreet Kaur ( ; born 8 March 1989) is an Indian cricketer who serves as the captain of the India Women's National Cricket Team in all formats . She plays as an all-rounder for the Indian women's cricket team; and was awarded the Arjuna A ...

. This spell was later extended for a further two matches after Harmanpreet Kaur withdrew from the Big Bash, before Jones was replaced by

Chamari Athapaththu Atapattu Mudiyanselage Chamari Jayangani (born 9 February 1990, also known as Chamari Athapaththu) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and the current captain of the women's Twenty20 International team of Sri Lanka. She had a short stint as the captain o ...

. Overall, in her four matches for the side, she scored 24 runs at an average of 6.00.

International career

In December 2021, Jones was named captain of England's A squad for their tour to Australia, with the matches being played alongside the

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 ...

. She played all six matches on the tour, making one half-century, 51 * in the 3rd T20.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Evelyn 1992 births Living people Cricketers from Shrewsbury Shropshire women cricketers Staffordshire women cricketers Lancashire women cricketers Warwickshire women cricketers Loughborough Lightning cricketers Lancashire Thunder cricketers Central Sparks cricketers Canterbury Magicians cricketers Birmingham Phoenix cricketers Melbourne Renegades (WBBL) cricketers