The 1995/1996 season was very poor for Jones, and having earned nothing from ten tournaments, he dropped to 199th in the world rankings. However, he enjoyed a vast upturn in form from 1996; Jones reached the last 32 of the 1997 International Open, losing 1–5 to Paul Wykes, having earlier defeated the prominent Canadian Alain Robidoux 5–4, and also that year's Thailand Open, where the 1996 World finalist Peter Ebdon beat him 5–3. The highlight of this season was Jones' début appearance at the Crucible Theatre in the last 32 of the 1997 World Championship; he held John Parrott to 9–9, before losing the deciding frame by 44 points to 54.