January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Malachi looks to get the better of his mates
Last year Jones was instrumental in helping Rangers win every domestic honour in the game.
This time he, along with his uncle Clevie Wade who quit as Rangers coach to join the U-19 staff, are looking to inflict a second straight defeat on the defending champions.
Jones, the one member of the Under-19s who went to the World Cup, is not phased by the prospect of coming up against his former team-mates and national team peers and believes his young side has a chance to beat Rangers on Sunday.
"I think there's a great possibility. They are slightly under strength this season, they've got a few players missing, a few retired and a couple more out of form.
"We have an opportunity to catch them off guard because we are playing pretty good cricket at the moment."
Jones, a young up and coming prospect at Rangers, has found himself in a completely different role this season at the under-19s.
From being surrounded by older, more experienced heads last season, he is the key player and the leader of his team this year.
"It's a total different role. Everyone's looking to me and Rodney as the leaders.
"We are alternating the captaincy. We're the only ones that have been in the senior squad and people are looking to us to be the backbone of the team. We try to keep up our professionalism and set an example.
"At Rangers it was a case of chipping in where I got the opportunity. I wouldn't say I was a fringe player because I made Cup Match and I was involved in the squad but I had a lot of support from the other senior players. With the under-19s, I am the senior player."
Jones said he was enjoying the responsibility and believes the opportunity to play in the Premier League will help his team for the challenges ahead.
"We are putting in the hard work. We are all looking towards the big goal in Malaysia (U19 World Cup) next year. We are improving and the results are starting to show already."
He said he would still like to see the likes of Jahron Dickinson and Oronde Bascome involved with the squad and a complete commitment from Steven Bremar to give more options with the bat.
But he said the Under-19s, who also play Somerset this weekend, would have the edge on their Premier League opponents in the field.
"We'll always have a bit more energy and a bit more fitness. We can win a lot of our games in the field.
"With the bowling we have we feel we can knock down teams for less than 250 and that should give us a chance."
Jones, an out and out bowler with the senior squad, is an all-rounder at under-19 level and will feature anywhere in the top order. He made a 50 against Rangers in the Sevens tournament last month and belted 73 as the U19s kicked off their Premier campaign with a win over Cleveland two weeks ago.[[In-content Ad]]
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