Jones relaxed about playing against ‘friends’ at ICC Qualifier

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CMC):

There will be something extra special about the opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier tomorrow for United States batsman Aaron Jones.

The 28-year-old will be looking to put aside the emotions of playing against several players in the West Indies team that he has grown to call friends after receiving his education in the game in Barbados.

Jones was born in Queens, New York, but he moved to the island with his family in his early years, where he developed his love for the sport and played alongside several of the established members of the Caribbean side.

“For me, it’s just like playing against my friends,” he said. “I grew up playing with the guys from Barbados – Shai Hope, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase – and I played against some of the other guys, like Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell.

“Barbados was a great place to play cricket and there was a lot of competition. The club game and first-class game are both very competitive.”

He said: “We have played against the West Indian squad a lot – as a USA squad, we have been part of the List A competition in the Caribbean, so that has given us an idea of what to expect.

“I want to go hard and I want to win, for sure, but I will just have to treat it like another game. It will be a great occasion.”

Jones played eight List A One-day matches for Combined Campuses & Colleges in the West Indies Super50 Cup after making his debut against Leeward Islands Hurricanes in January 2016, and played nine first-class matches for Barbados Pride in the West Indies Championship against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in October 2017.

He never set the two tournaments on fire, and like a few other players of recent vintage with ties to Barbados that possessed dual citizenship, he made a firm decision to play internationally for a team other than West Indies, and he made his first appearance in a United States uniform in a Twenty20 International against United Arab Emirates in March 2019.

A right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spinner, he has now played 38 One-day Internationals and 19 T20Is for the Americans, and he will have an important role to play not only against West Indies in the opener of the World Cup Qualifier, but throughout his side’s first appearance at this stage in 18 years.

“A lot has changed in terms of facilities and investment in cricket in the US since we were last playing at this level,” the North Carolina-based Jones said. “There are more grass wickets around, as opposed to AstroTurf and matting, and the number of quality players we have to play against has gone up.”

The United States finished top of the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off table, winning four of their five matches in Namibia to finish above the UAE on net run rate and make this Qualifier.

They made their ODI debut at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, losing out to star-studded Australia and New Zealand sides in the group stage.

The United States are yet to feature in an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup or T20 World Cup.