SO LONG, DEANO

 

 

 

TO BECOME an unforgettable telling tale alongside an everlasting historic story is an honour bestowed upon very few people. Dean Jones was a proud owner of one such honour that remains a legendary stuff in Test cricket. Never will be the memory of the famous ‘tied’ Test between India and Australia at Madras in 1986 complete without the mention of Dean Jones in the same breath. He had owned that historic occasion on the dint of a courageous knock of 210 fighting bouts of vomiting and severe dehydration. His passing away due to a sudden cardiac arrest in Mumbai while preparing for his commentary stint has taken away a true-blue fighter whose reading of the game and innovations will remain his lasting legacy for cricket and its lovers.

 

Jones was all that the Australian cricket team went on to become in all versions of the game. He was a pioneer of many things that changed the world’s outlook towards One-Day cricket. He introduced the concept of ‘stealing’ runs with hare-like running between wickets. It would not be an exaggeration to say the sprightly Aussie actually changed the rulebook for ODI cricket. Jones introduced the idea of ‘converting ones into twos’ which has become a basic requirement for the modern game and new-age players.

 

Images of an agile batsman in yellow jersey and zinc-pasted lips diving full length into the crease to steal an impossible run formed a mental billboard of Benson & Hedges day/nighters in Australia in the mid-80s and early 90s. Old footages still run on the digital platforms bringing out Jones’ trademark cuts over covers while walking away from the stumps. This shot has remained a wonderful gift from Dean Jones to world cricket.

 

Jones’ cricketing career was full of courage, conviction and a distinct adventurism. Never shy of standing up to a challenge, his riling of West Indian great Curtly Ambrose during an ODI was a show of street-smart tactics and display of the Aussie ploy of ‘mental games’. He was aware of the consequences of needling Ambrose yet Jones took the bait and forced the bowler to remove his wristband just for the heck of it. He did pay for the misadventure with a barrage of bouncers but then that was Dean Jones, a resolute and plucky Australian.

While the cricketing world comes to terms with the big loss, game’s lovers and fans of Jones’ commentary will rue the going away of a shrewd tactician, a committed professional and a great lover of cricket.So long, Prof Deano!