Cricketer Dean Jones dies of cardiac arrest

Mumbai, September 24

Dean Jones, the former Australian batsman who became famous as a popular commentator after his cricket career, died after a cardiac arrest here today at age 59.

Jones was in Mumbai as part of the commentary team for the Indian Premier League, currently underway in the UAE. He was staying at a city hotel and was in a biosecure bubble, along with the other commentators and television crew. According to an IPL source, Jones suffered a heart attack around noon and was gone in a matter of seconds. “Deano was standing in the hotel lobby and he suddenly collapsed. Brett Lee was standing by his side. Brett tried to revive him by applying CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) but he didn’t respond,” said the source. He was taken to a hospital in Girgaon, where he was pronounced dead on arrival

Jones, who is survived by his wife and two daughters, played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs and was part of the Australian team that won the 1987 World Cup under Allan Border. Jones was the Man of the Match in the famous tied Test in Madras (now Chennai) in 1986, when he displayed extraordinary physical and mental strength in extremely difficult conditions to bat over eight hours in making 210, regarded as one of the greatest innings ever played, anywhere.

He was also an exciting ODI batsman who was known for his trademark shots over the field and his frenetic running between the wickets. He was a fearless batsman who often faced the fastest bowlers protected by a baggy yellow cap and pulled and hooked the ball with great success. He scored 6,068 runs at an average of 44.61 in ODI cricket and would have been quite at home in modern cricket for which he provided commentary.

Border, his inspirational captain, said today: “He revolutionised the game and I loved him. When he scored his 200 in Madras he was so dehydrated but he kept going. At 170 I said ‘if you can’t keep going I’ll get a Queenslander on’.”

— TNS, with agency inputs