'Hero to a generation', Dean Jones will be missed

Dean Jones
Dean Jones

The sudden passing of a beloved icon was greeted with shock and sadness from around the cricket world.

Earl Eddings, Chair of Cricket Australia, remembered a "legend of this great game". "Dean Jones was a hero to a generation of cricketers and will forever be remembered as a legend of this great game," he said. "Anyone who watched cricket in the 1980s and 1990s will fondly recall his cavalier approach at the crease and the incredible energy and passion he brought to every game he played.

"Jones remained an immensely popular figure in Australian and Victorian cricket throughout his life and was a much-loved columnist and commentator in every corner of the cricketing world. This is a truly sad day."

Jones' fellow Australians remembered a player who changed the way the game was played.

Justin Langer, the Australia coach, said, "Deano was a true legend of Australian sport and world cricket, one of the great players and personalities in a golden time for the game. His role in the team’s World Cup win in 1987 and the 1989 Ashes under AB (Allan Border) were a huge turning point for Australian cricket."

"Stats are great but they don’t say how he, like not a lot of others, changed the way the game was played," said Mel Jones. "The speed btw wickets, the ability to manipulate the field the energy in the field and the development of so many other players. What a contribution to the game."

Darren Lehmann added: "Dean Jones will be missed, he taught me so much on and off the ground, I and all of the cricketing world will miss him."

In India, where he enjoyed two of the finest moments in his career, the 1987 World Cup win and the double-century at Chepauk, and where he was working on TV commentary for the IPL when he had a heart attack, there was sadness.

Jones influenced cricketers and made friends around the world through his coaching and TV stints, and earlier as a player. His friends from the commentary box suffered a personal loss.

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