Dean Jones’ last call to son Koby revealed as legal fight over his will continues

New details have emerged about how mercurial batsman Dean Jones juggled his complicated private life as the legal fight over his will continues.

deans jones and his son koby and lover kerri-anne

It wasn’t conventional, but there was no doubt Dean Jones loved his son Koby.

New details have emerged about how the mercurial batsman juggled his complicated private life.

Jones was married to his wife Jane for 34 years and they lived in Romsey, 61km north of Melbourne.

However, he also had a son in Sydney with his lover Kerri-Anne Hamilton, whom he was seeing for more than 20 years.

Amid a legal battle over his will, it can now be revealed how close Jones was to his son, despite the circumstances.

Just three days before he died suddenly in India last year, Jones had called Koby, 12, to chat with him.

“I was present when (Jones) gave (Koby) a tour of the studio in India where he was working,” Ms Hamilton said in a document seen by this newspaper.

“He was excited during the call about being back at work and showing (Koby) where he worked and what his role was.”

That call was on September 21, 2020.

Koby and Dean Jones. Picture: Instagram

The world was in shock when Jones died, aged 59, in his Mumbai hotel room on September 24, 2020.

Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee performed CPR in a desperate attempt to save his life but it was too late.

Early reports suggested Jones died of a heart attack, but it was ultimately declared a stroke.

Jones had written a will in 2012 after his son was born, which names his daughters Phoebe and Isabella, but it did not include provisions for Koby.

However, Jones had told Ms Hamilton that he had “things set up for Koby.”

Kerri-Anne Hamilton’s photo of son Koby and Dean Jones. Picture: Instagram

Jones had paid $615.86 a fortnight in child support for Koby while he was alive.

He also regularly contributed to his son’s soccer fees, which cost $1500 per season, paid for his cricket academy registrations of $1000, and organised sporting gear worth about $5000 a year.

Jones was also generous at Christmas and birthdays, sending his son on occasions up to $2,500.

That financial support ended when Jones died.

Koby, via his mother, has lodged a claim in Victoria’s Supreme Court seeking child support until he becomes an adult.

Jones was listed on Koby’s birth certificate as his father and he had publicly acknowledged him.

He did not meet his son until he was three years old, with his marriage to Jane Jones complicating the relationship.

“I’m coming over to meet my boy, this is silly”, he allegedly wrote to Ms Hamilton when he was in Sydney in 2012.

Dean Jones and Kerri-Anne Hamilton. Picture: Instagram

DEAN JONES' FINANCIAL SUPPORT

• Child support: $615.86 a fortnight
• Soccer fees: $1500 per season
• Cricket academy registrations: $1000
• Sporting gear: $5000 year
• Christmas and birthday money: Up to $2500

That financial support ended when Jones died.

He then came to Ms Hamilton’s home late at night and met him the next day.

Following that awkward start, Jones became a regular visitor and made “no secret of being in (Koby’s) life.”

“He signed mini cricket bats for (Koby’s) volunteer coaches, a mini cricket bat for (Koby’s) year 3 school teacher,” Ms Hamilton said in the document, written on behalf of her son.

“The only people who did not know about the relationship between (Dean Jones) and (Koby) were (Jane Jones) and her family.”

Jones had also given Ms Hamilton and Koby money to arrange passports to visit him while he was in India in 2020.

Those plans were dashed when Australia’s borders were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Hamilton met Jones at a celebrity golf day in 1998 where she was working as a promotional host.

She was 26 and he was 38 at the time, but Ms Hamilton was not aware he was married with children until 1999.

Ms Hamilton had asked Jones to stop contacting her in 2002 until he worked out what he was going to do with his marriage.

Koby Hamilton’s birth certificate - the son of Dean Jones and Kerrie-Anne Hamilton.

He stayed married to Jane but continued the relationship with Ms Hamilton.

“He would often stay at my home rather than a hotel and we would have getaways after his work commitments/trips,” Ms Hamilton said.

“I would often attend work events with him, such as hosting private boxes during the Ashes series, or at the Beefy and Friends tour, and at guest speaking nights.”

Ms Hamilton became a flight attendant, which changed her relationship with Jones.

“When I was in Melbourne (Jones) would see me and I would see him when he was in Sydney,” she said.

“When I was in Phuket and he was in India, he would fly to visit me. On one of the trips to Phuket, I fell pregnant with the (Koby).

“I was 34 years old at the time.”

Former cricketer Dean Jones and wife Jane Jones at the 2007 Red Ball fundraising event for the Bone Marrow Donor Institute in Melbourne. Picture: Getty

Ms Hamilton said that she had not had a romantic relationship with anyone else since she started seeing Jones.

He cut contact after Koby was born until he later reconnected.

Ms Hamilton, on the advice of a lawyer, sought child support payments when he was 14 months old.

An unsigned child support agreement, seen by this newspaper, was written in July 2010.

The agreement stated that Jones would pay Ms Hamilton $16,000 per year on the first business day of July each year.

That changed when Ms Hamilton refinanced her home, with payments made in fortnightly instalments instead.

Ms Hamilton has sought details of Jones’ finances, including a company that was not listed in his will, along with a trust of which he was a shareholder.

A directions hearing on the matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria this week.

The case was ongoing.

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Originally published as Dean Jones’ last call to son Koby revealed as legal fight over his will continues