Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes started the rot four to five years ago. A few physical injuries and mental exhaustion took their toll on budding first-class careers so the two Aussies went for the easier and more lucrative route to fame by becoming specialist T20 fast bowlers. Let's be honest, they haven't done too badly. Apart from Australia and his native Netherlands, Nannes has plied his trade for no fewer than eleven top teams around the world, taking 214 wickets in 181 matches over six seasons, compared with 93 in a mere 23 first-class fixtures before that.
Tait, still only 30, did at least have a decent grounding in proper cricket, including three mediocre Tests and 35 ODIs. However, it's now thirty months since he played even a 50-over game, but at least he retired with Sachin Tendulkar his final victim. He has represented nine senior sides in a ten-year career and, with only a few four-over stints, albeit at a fearsome pace, he probably has several more years left in him.
So what about Simon Jones. I did scoff and splutter when reading about his decision to concentate all his efforts on winning contracts for T20 franchises around the world. With no reputation in that form of cricket at all, and living entirely on fans' memories of his mid-2000s England heyday, that did sound mighty optimistic to me. He made no impact in Glamorgan's one-day final this summer and, for all his media appearances and talking the talk, I do wonder why he thinks the Big Bash, IPL etc will come hammering on the door of such an injury-prone bowler, eight years past his prime.
Now even his home county Glamorgan have shut the door in his face, quite rightly preferring to place their hopes and slender cash reserves on young talent. Jones commented that he would have to seek employment 'over the bridge', presumably meaning the Severn crossing. However, unless he has relatively low expectations, pay-wise I can't see many counties fighting for his services. Perhaps he can prove me wrong but it would be a gamble for any side.
Over in India, Ajay Jadeja has made a comeback at 42, nearly seven years after his final first-class appearance for Rajasthan. It wasn't a senior game, but a Buchi Babu tournament one-dayer for Haryana. Nevertheless, as one of India's top 50-over batsmen of the 1990s before involvement in match-fixing cost him dear, eyebrows are being raised. Is he just helping out a former side, mentoring the youngsters or actually testing the waters for a Warne-like comeback payday? I'm probably too much of a cynic by steering towards the latter. After all, if Tendulkar finds his powers waning at 40, what hope does his former team-mate Jadeja have?
In the end, it's a commercial world and if someone has the cash and nerve to make an eye-catching big-name signing in Jadeja, then I don't blame him for trying. As for Simon Jones, I wish he had simply bowed to the inevitable and made a dignified exit from the senior cricket field and used his experience to benefit youngsters as a coach. I'm sure he'd make a great one.
