Jones, whose place in the T20I squad had been in the spotlight, said he had shown he was “good enough” to play at the highest level.
By ESPNcricinfo Staff
US batsman Aaron Jones hopes his knock against Canada in the 2024 T20 World Cup will “open the eyes of the world” and show he is “good enough” to play T20.
Jones came into the match with 2 for 42 in the seventh over when the US target of 195 looked a little too high, scoring a not-so-scoring 94, his second-highest individual score on T20 World Cup debut, but the co-hosts not only achieved their target, but did so with seven wickets and 14 balls to spare.
“As a cricketer, sometimes you get a few low scores and don’t get much attention,” Jones says. “I’ve always been confident in myself and I know I can perform at any level.” [I am] I’m happy to be at the top and win a game for the USA and hopefully people around the world realise that I am good enough to play T20 cricket.
“I believed in myself, I worked hard, [criticism] “As a motivation. I know I’m good enough to play at the highest level and I’m definitely going to do my best if I get the opportunity. When I came up to bat tonight, I looked at it as another game to fight for myself and get my team as close to the line as possible. If we can get as close to the line as possible and get over the line, that’s great for the team.”
It came at a big time for Jones, as he delivered his innings in front of a roaring home crowd at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. He was part of the Seattle Orcas in the inaugural Major League Cricket T20 League competition in the United States but was released after not being selected by any team in the MLC draft earlier this year. A follow-up draft will be held on June 16 for teams to complete their squads. His place in the T20I squad was also attracting attention.
“When I wasn’t selected for the major leagues, I just took it as a stepping stone on the journey,” he said. “I would have liked to have been drafted, but those things happen. Hopefully tonight’s game will open the eyes of people who don’t know me or know US Cricket. There’s no doubt we have great players, we have the talent and the drive to play at the highest level.”
Jones shared a third-wicket partnership of 131 off just 58 balls with Andries Guth, who scored 65 off 46 balls. When they came together, the Canadian fast bowlers were in high spirits, and when the partnership ended, the USA was on the brink of a famous victory.
“When I came out to bat, I said to Gous, ‘We’re in trouble now,'” Jones said. “If we want to win the game, we’ve got to be aggressive and proactive. We can either lose, hustle and get bowled out at whatever score we want, or we can try to get the score. We want to play fearless, proactive and intelligent cricket. We want to be fearless and good with our shot selection. If you know not to sweep, don’t sweep. If you know not to use your feet, don’t use your feet, just be aggressive.”
Is this his biggest blow yet for America?
“Honestly, that’s one that goes up there,” Jones said. “Probably my best score as a U.S. player, or maybe second only to the hundred I scored when the U.S. gained ODI status. It’s a World Cup, we know Canada is a rival and it’s the first game of the World Cup and everyone’s watching us, so it’s a special score.”
The United States next plays Pakistan at the same venue on Thursday and Jones said they plan to play fearless cricket against Pakistan just as they will against India 10 days later.
“We just want to keep winning as much as we can. Of course, we can’t win every game for the rest of our lives,” he said. “Our plan is [for the rest of the tournament] It’s going to be a big change. We want to play fearless cricket. We want to play hard cricket. We want to play smart cricket. We will go into Pakistan with the same mindset. We want to play fearless cricket, whoever we are playing.”
