Dean Jones: Cricket legend was set to mentor Aussie T20 team before his shock death
Former Test and one-day “legend” Dean Jones was on the verge of taking on a new role with the Australian team before his shock death in Dubai.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Dean Jones was so well thought of by national coach Justin Langer he was on the verge of being brought in as a mentor for the Australian T20 team before his shock death in Dubai.
Langer, who said Jones would be remembered as a “legend”, revealed on Friday morning the Aussie great had so much passion and enthusiasm for cricket he believed it could help his team.
Langer has used Aussie greats Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Mike Hussey as team mentors since taking over as coach.
Jones, who was 59, had been a successful T20 coach, winning the Pakistan Premier League with Islamabad United.
Langer said a long lunch during the COVID-19 lockdown in Perth with Adam Gilchrist, Tom Moody and Geoff Marsh, where they spoke to players from the 1989 Ashes, reminded him what Jones could bring.
“It was one of the great afternoons in my life, and after speaking to Jonesy for five or 10 minutes. That’s where I thought about how good he would be in one of those mentor roles,” Langer said on Friday morning.
“He’s helped me as the Australian coach over the last couple of years. We’ve had Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, and it was only recently that I was talking about getting Deano in to help us with our T20 World Cup stuff as one of those mentor coaches. Sadly, that’s not going to happen.
“But the things I have learned from him, and the legacy he leaves for Australian cricket and Australian cricketers won’t be lost.
“I can imagine the broken hearts today of not just his family but his teammates. You forge great friendships and that’s why the cricket world will be so sad generally, but his mates too.”
Langer said he was always on the lookout for the next Dean Jones, who was one of the game’s few revolutionaries with the way he approached one-day cricket.
“I was only talking to Jonesy last week. The more I think about it, it sums him up, he was so passionate about Australian cricket and the game of cricket full stop,” he said.
“We were talking about how we could do things better. There are not many players who revolutionised the game. You think about Warney, Adam Gilchrist, and Dean Jones – his athleticism, the way he took on the game.
“We keep talking about it in the Australian cricket team, who is going to be our next Dean Jones, who is going to be our next Michael Bevan, our next Michael Hussey … Dean Jones is one of those people, he could have brought so much to us.”
Langer also reached out to Brett Lee, who attempted CPR on Jones in Dubai when he suffered a heart attack in the hotel both were staying at while commentating in the IPL.
“One of our little brothers. I can’t imagine what he’s been through. Our heart goes out to him. It’s a shocking time,” he said.
Langer, who never played with Jones but played against him and has kept his counsel over his years as a player and now coach, said there was one word to sum him up.
“That word legend is Deano,” he said.
“He was so passionate about the game of cricket, he was bigger than life. I think the word legend sums up Deano. We all called him the ‘ledge’. That’s how he’d like to be remembered.”
Originally published as Dean Jones: Cricket legend was set to mentor Aussie T20 team before his shock death