When Dean Jones played for Delacombe Park in the MPCA
Almost 20 years ago, Dean Jones played a one-off game for Delacombe Park in the Mornington Peninsula Cricket Association — we remember the brilliant stroke play, the buzz and the broken bat.
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Crowds this big just don’t get to MPCA games.
But Australian cricket legends don’t usually play in the local comp either.
So, it was massive when Dean Jones did a favour for his mate Rod Loader and played a one-off game for Loader’s Delacombe Park on Sunday, January 7, 2001.
Deano and Delacombe took on Rob Bedford’s Frankston YCW in a 40-over game, with 1500 spectators circling the small Towerhill Rd oval in Frankston.
The Frankston Standard reported at the time:
Playing with an air of arrogance, Deano delighted the crowd of nearly 1500 with his famous charge, powerful off drives and cheeky running between wickets.
His innings of 59, however, failed to get his adopted club over the line.
Instead, Frankston YCW, with Rob Bedford (98) in vintage form, spoiled the party with a solid batting and bowling performance.
Talking to Pot Shots after the game, Deano said he enjoyed the experience but questioned some of the MPCA’s rules.
Pot Shots: Did you enjoy it?
Dean Jones: Yeah. I’m glad everyone turned up and supported the club and myself. I didn’t play that well but I hadn’t had a bat for 14 months and I broke my stick in the morning in the nets, but that’s taking nothing away - the other boys, YCW, or whoever they are, they bowled particularly well.
PS: You broke your bat in the warm up?
DJ: The whole handle came out. The bat was about 2 1/2 years old but it hasn’t hardly been used because, obviously, I haven’t been playing. The handle came out of the blade.
PS: Is that right that it was the last bat you used for Victoria?
DJ: Yeah.
PS: So what bat did you use?
DJ: One of the local bloke’s bats and I wouldn’t paint the fence with it. It was a stinker. But they gave it to me, it was good of them.
PS: How did you find the standard of the cricket?
DJ: It was okay, it was no big deal. I don’t know about the rules of the game, I don’t think it’s much fun...after 10 overs you can have four blokes on the boundary, I don’t think that’s fair. And you’ve got a one-day game and you’ve got to bowl one more over at the end. That’s a bit silly...I had four guys out on the boundary right away almost, I don’t think that’s within the spirit of the game.
PS: Paul Waterhouse, the left-arm opener who swings it, he goes alright?
DJ: Yeah, not bad.
PS: Was the crowd alright?
DJ: They got into me a little bit but I’ve had worse, it was no big deal. They had a day out.
The bat that Jones used belonged to Delacombe Park veteran Mark Brittain, who was amused by Deano’s assessment of his trusty piece of willow.
Brittain said: “It depends on whether you find the middle or not, I suppose . . . he might have been holding it the wrong way or something!’’
Just to prove that there was nothing wrong with his bat, Brittain strode to the crease later in the game and crunched a couple of big sixes.
After breaking his favourite bat during a net session before the game, Jones signed it and gave it to Delacombe Park to auction off. It was the same bat Jones used to make his final century for Victoria in 1997-98.
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