In the winters he was a top-level Australian Rules footballer. With help from 'Jonah’s' descendants and from local archive material, Bernard Whimpress, a leading historian of Australian cricket, traces a remarkable career in which he even signed up to play for Sussex. On the way we take in Australia’s mining cities of Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie, the tragedies of the deaths of his children, labouring at the Adelaide Oval, working as a wharfie at Fremantle, and doing the heavy work, searching ships as a Customs man.
Jones’ story is a big man’s struggle against adversity.
Bernard Whimpress is the Curator of the Adelaide Oval Museum. A former magazine editor and photographer, he holds a doctorate in history from Flinders University, South Australia.