Richard Jones to move back to Auckland

Richard Jones, the Test batsman, has moved from Wellington to finish his career with Auckland. Jones, 30, spent a successful four years with Wellington, but he has decided to return to his former province.

Jones didn't have the best of seasons with Wellington last year, scoring only 192 runs at 21.33, but that wasn't the reason behind his move. "I only ever intended to play for Wellington for two years and it ended up being four - that was how good it was," Jones said. "Wellington rejuvenated my career and it was a great move for me to make, but I'm older now and I've just bought a house up here. I work up here, my family is up here so it all points to playing here."

He added that playing for New Zealand last December against Pakistan in his first, and so far only, Test was the highlight of his four years at Wellington. "Making my Test debut at Wellington, where basically my career had turned around, was something I'll never forget. It wasn't happening for me at Auckland before I came down and to end up playing a Test match a few years later is something that was quite nice."

Jones has also played five one-dayers, all against Pakistan last year, but he now insists he has job on his hands just getting into the Auckland side, let alone the national team. He will be battling for places against the likes of Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Tim McIntosh and Matthew Horne: "It's not going to be easy to break in, but hopefully."