Andrew Jones was one of the late bloomers in cricket. He made his International debut at the age of 28 but quickly settled into the team. He was a more than dependable No 3 batsman and along with Martin Crowe was the batting mainstay for New Zealand in his time. An average of 44.27 at that time ranks among the very best in the world. His technique was his own and one that would not be found in coaching manuals. His counter to the short deliveries, a jumping up to keep it down style, may have looked ungainly but proved to be very effective for him.

His purple patch started against Sri Lanka in 1990 when he made a career best 186. He shared a 467 run stand with Martin Crowe, a record then for any wicket in Tests. He followed this up with two tons in his next two innings and remains the only New Zealander to have scored 3 consecutive hundreds in 3 innings. He retired in 1995.

By Ganesh Chandrasekaran