Do you know who has scored the most first-class runs without playing an official Test?
Former Welsh cricketer Alan Jones holds the record for scoring the most runs in First-Class Cricket without playing an official Test match. Jones played the first Test of England’s series against the Rest of the World XI in the year 1970, games which originally carried Test status only to be subsequently downgraded by the ICC in 1972.
Born on November 04, 1938, in Glamorgan in Wales, Jones featured in 645 FC games and amassed 36049 runs at an average of 32.89 with the highest score of 204*.
A product of local talent near Swansea, the left-handed batter struck 56 centuries and 194 half-centuries with 72 unbeaten knocks in 1168 innings in his FC career. The Welsh cricketer appeared in FC cricket in a career that spanned 26 long years between 1957 to 1983. He also played 288 matches in List A cricket, scoring 7157 runs.
In 284 innings, Jones struck two hundreds and 42 half-centuries with the highest score of 124* with 21 unbeaten innings. In the month of June in 2020, he was finally awarded the Test cap, 50 years since he appeared against the Rest of the World XI. England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) formally inducted the 84-yeard od as cap no.696.
Exactly 50 years after his only appearance, the Glamorgan legend was finally reinstated as a Test cricketer. In the Rest of the World XI fixture, Jones was dismissed By Mike Procter in both innings for five and zero and was not picked again. Notably, his 56 centuries in FC cricket are exceeded only by John Langridge among non-Test players, who hammered 76 hundreds.
