Kent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones has been delighted with the second phase of his international cricketing career.

Jones has been Papua New Guinea’s star batsman in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 Qualifiers in the UAE as they missed out on qualification to the semi-finals after winning three of their seven games.

Despite missing out on qualification, Jones believes the past few weeks have been a great experience:

“I am so delighted being with this team because the time I have spent with these guys has been fantastic. They are showing how cricket should be played in the right spirit and I love the smile on their faces when they are playing. It has been really refreshing for me,” Jones told Gulf News.

Jones, who missed a half-century by just four runs against Denmark at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday, is happy with the support for the game in Papua New Guinea.

“People there are very supportive. Within the region we are successful as a team but we need to move up the ranking,” said the 35-year-old, who played his last Test and One Day International for England in 2006.

Jones, who took 128 catches and five stumpings in Test matches, is thrilled about England’s recent successes, which have ensured they will bag $175,000 prize money from the ICC for being the top-ranked Test team next month.

“England have done fantastically well,” he said. “From the time I have been playing to now the improvements they have made is huge and that has won them the reward for being the world number one.

A lot of the credit has to go to the men in charge, Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. The successes they have achieved in the last two years have shown how good things are in England in terms of skills coming through the young guys. So the $175,000 they won is really well earned.”

Jones will be staying on in Dubai for the final, before heading back to Kent at the weekend and will feature in their pre-season friendly against Glamorgan at Canterbury on Tuesday.