HUW TURBERVILL celebrates Australia's finest ODI player of the 1980s and a winner of two PSL titles as a coach, who has passed away aged 59
Barely a month goes by without one of the best stories about Dean Jones being mentioned by The Cricketer team.
The great Australia batsman, who has died tragically young from a heart attack at the age of 59, was batting in the tied Test against India at Madras in 1986/87. Dehydrated and exhausted, he wanted to retire hurt.
Captain Allan Border knew exactly how to motivate him, calling him a “weak Victorian”, and saying that he wished that he could have a “tough Queenslander” (next man in, Greg Ritchie) batting with him.
Jones, in only his third Test, admitted the Australians “didn’t know anything about dehydration and rehydration back then”. He said: “When you’re urinating in your pants and vomiting 15 times, you’ve got massive problems.” He went on to make 210 and was then put on a saline drip. Whenever one of us is moaning about doing something, we are told "a tough Queenslander" is what is needed instead.
Twitter can be a bad thing, but there is also some good to it, and Jones has been a friendly presence in the cricket community on it for years. It was a joy to exchange direct messages with him, reflecting on his achievements.
He first came to my attention in the legendary Ashes series of 1986/87.
He looked so stylish. Tall and thin. Collar up. Baggy Green perched on top of a nest of curly hair. He played the flick off his legs exquisitely. He hit the ball high and handsome.
Dean Jones was part of Australia's victorious 1987 World Cup squad
Although England won everything that winter – the Ashes and both one-day tournaments – Jones ensured that they did not have it all their own way.
In the Tests he made 69 at Perth, 93 at Adelaide (both draws) and 59 in the embarrassing defeat at the MCG. He, Border and the boys sat in the bowels of the G afterwards, chewing on the harsh words of their own PM, Bob Hawke, who likened them unfavourably to Davis Cup winner Pat Cash. They sunk ‘a thousand beers’ and vowed ‘never again’.
Jones made 184 not out in the final dead rubber Test at the SCG, and that win finally put Australia on the path to recovery, beginning 19 years of English misery.
Jones was brilliant in 1989, making hundreds at Edgbaston and The Oval as Australia avenged their defeats in the previous two series, utterly crushing David Gower’s shambolic side, hamstrung by selectorial battiness and a looming rebel tour to South Africa. “That was my best ball striking in a Test match,” he told me. “I was so proud of this series – 566 runs in nine digs... it was the greatest tour of all time.”
Alas he only played 52 Tests, but made 11 centuries, with an excellent average of 46.55.
He was even better in ODIs, though – Australia’s finest player of the 1980s, glistening in their golden uniforms. He was a totem of batting talent, a talisman of Australia’s exotically exciting World Series. He scored more than 6,000 ODI runs at an average of 44, with seven tons. In the Perth Challenge of 1986/87 he hammered 104 against England on New Year’s Day, then 121 against Pakistan 24 hours later. Border would surely have been in no doubt about his toughness by that point.
Later that year he scored 33 in the World Cup final win over England at Calcutta.
“I think I was part of 10 winning World Series Cups. We all loved playing them... they were always in the holidays... Channel 9 marketed the tournament so well. They were played at prime time at night with most venues having lights. The West Indies played nearly every second year! And they were good!!! Pitches were average… grounds were huge!! There were no free hits.... WI bowlers bowling four bouncers an over ... the fans loving having 3 teams in country playing ODI cricket...
Jones' coaching career included two PSL titles in 2016 and 2018 with Islamabad United
“The highlights? Just winning! We trained hard... we played hard... and we celebrated hard! I have a million happy thoughts... we weren’t structured that much.. well I was allowed to play and develop my ODI game plan... I wanted to hurt them in first 15 overs .. then steal as many 1 & 2s in the middle and hunt for boundaries in death... that’s it… it was a game to show off your skills to the fullest.”
He graced county cricket twice.
In 1992 he shone for new boys Durham, forging a friendship with Sir Ian Botham.
He then came in as captain of Derbyshire in 1996, transforming them into title challengers, alongside fellow Victorian Les Stillman, the coach. They finished second in the County Championship but the set-in-their-ways stalwarts didn’t like his abrasive approach and he was driven out.
“I honestly think we could have built a new era,” he told me, “but the chairman wanted me to sack six players by the end of 1997 and I was not going to be retained with Dominic Cork getting the captaincy... why would anyone want to stay in that environment? Cork and Kim Barnett had their time... but wanted to cash in on our good work by Les and I. We played Kevin Dean, Johnny Owen... Andy Harris... we got Chris Adams firing again... Daffy (Phil DeFreitas) was superb... we picked a young Ian Blackwell.... my god... and we get shoved?”
He coached the Islamabad franchise to the inaugural Pakistan Super League in 2016, and told me he would love to have come back at Derbyshire but it wasn’t to be.
There was so much still to achieve for such a charismatic and innovative cricket character… 59 is no age at all.
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