Andrew Howard Jones is a former New Zealand cricketer. Between 1987 and 1995 he played in 39 Test matches and 87 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. Domestically he played for Central Districts, Otago, and Wellington. Jones was never your conventional cricketer, anyway. Not only did he have a technique all his own, he didn't seek the company of other cricketers when stumps were pulled for the night. Yes, he cared and, yes, he always gave his absolute best for New Zealand. But he never had any intention of having his entire life defined by the eight years he spent batting at No.3 for New Zealand.

Andrew Jones attended Nelson College from 1972 to 1976, and was a member of the school's 1st XI cricket team for four years. He was awarded the Wood Cup for best all-round athlete at the college in 1975.

Jones did not make his international debut until the age of 27, playing his first Test match in April 1987 against Sri Lanka. He became a solid number 3 batsman, where he played all but four of his Test innings. New Zealand only won six of the 39 Tests in which he played. Jones's batting style was characterised by an unusual but effective jumping method against short deliveries.

He was a batsman who was difficult to dismiss when set, he scored over 140 in five of his seven hundreds. He had a strong record against subcontinental sides, against India he scored 401 runs at 50.13 and made 625 runs at 62.50 against the Sri Lankans. It was against the Sri Lankans that he made his highest Test score of 186 in Wellington. With Martin Crowe, Jones made a partnership of 467 which became a Test record as the highest partnership by any side for any wicket. If Crowe was MCC-textbook perfection; Jones was unadulterated grit. The innings came in a prolific period for Jones as he made 122 and an unbeaten 100 in his next two Test innings. Jones is currently the only New Zealand batsman to have ever scored 3 hundreds in consecutive innings.

On February 4, 1991, Martin Crowe known for his technical brilliance and peerless stroke-making ability, and Andrew Jones, with an ungainly yet effective technique, played with pluck, imagination and infinite patience to essay a monumental partnership of 467 against Sri Lanka at Basin Reserve, Wellington. It was an all-time record then for any partnership, breaking the 451-run stand between Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman in 1934 against England at Oval, and Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar’s monstrous stand of 451 against India at Hyderabad (Pakistan) in 1982-83.

If Jones was adept at playing square off the wicket shots, then Crowe took his time before neatly essaying shots through the on-side with filigree precision. Crowe simply was toying with Sri Lanka’s bowling, especially when Ramanayake bowled his brand of medium-pace. Crowe soon crossed the three figure-mark and then even completed his double ton. Jones, with his sterling effort was overshadowed by Crowe. But one shouldn’t forget his heroics. He finished on 186 not out as New Zealand declared on 671 for four. It was a Houdini act enacted by two batsmen who had burgeoning self-belief and unwavering confidence. As records also tumbled both batsmen won a tidal wave of appreciation.

Crowe and Jones played 47 innings together or 1588 runs, four century partnerships and an average of 41.78. Crowe's strike rate was 73 and Jones' 58. However, the strike rate comparison to modern partnerships is a little unkind, given the ball was harder to get through a less cluttered inner circle to the fence, bats didnt have thes same power, boundaries were generally bigger and there was no T20 to challenge cricket's limits.

Despite maintaining an average of 35.69 in 87 ODI innings, he never scored a century in that format of the game. His highest score of 93 came in Sharjah against Bangladesh. Jones was New Zealand's second highest runscorer at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, compiling 322 at an average of 46. He scored a majestic 78 off 83 balls vs England which was one the highlights of the ‘92 Cup. It's his test performances that many fans will recall best, though, and Jones' record of 2922 runs at 44.27 puts him among the top bracket of batsmen this country has ever produced.