Biography Of Dean Jones- The Aggressive Australian Batsman

Dean Mervyn Jones is a former Australian cricketer known for his aggressive batting. He played a new game in which he walked down the pitch to fast bowlers, ran frenetically between wickets and turned out-fielding into an attacking occupation.

Jones was born on March 24, 1961 at Coburg in Melbourne. In his early teenage years he joined the strong Carlton club, where his father, Barney, had built a reputation as a talented all-rounder with a fierce competitive attitude. Jones, along with his two younger, cricket-playing brothers, learned the game in a hard school. His major early influence at Carlton was the former Australian opening batsman, Keith Stackpole, another with a reputation as a formidable opponent. Dean Jones first played for Victoria in 1981-82, and while his early years were marked by occasional flashes of brilliance, too often his batting was marred by the natural impetuosity of youth and his own arrogant impatience. There was no doubting his natural gifts.

He was selected on the 1984 tour of the West Indies after Graham Yallop had to pull out due to injury. He was not picked in the original XI, but was drafted into the side after Steve Smith fell ill. Jones himself was very ill before the Test, and deemed his score of 48 on his debut as his best knock.

Between 1984 and 1992, Jones played 52 Test matches for Australia, scoring 3,631 runs, including 11 centuries, at an average of 46.55.

His most notable innings was against India in the famous Tied Test in Chennai (Madras) in 1986. Jones played a marathon inning of 210 in extremly hot and humid conditions. 

Jones was one of Australia's most successful batsmen in One Day International matches. In 164 matches he scored 6,068 runs, including seven centuries and 46 half centuries, at an average of 44.61. His strike rate of 72.56 may seem pedestrian now in the era of 300-plus scores in one-days and Twenty20 cricket, but it was a benchmark at the time. Jones played in the 1987 World Cup winning team, and was noted for his electric running between the wickets, outstanding out-fielding and aggressive batting especially against fast bowlers. With his positive, aggressive and flamboyant style of play he became a crowd favourite.

Jones went on to be a mainstay of the Australian Test team middle order over the next six years and being one of the stars of the successful 1989 Ashes tour of England. He was controversially dropped from the test team at the start of the 1992–93 season, despite having topped the averages in the previous Test series, against Sri Lanka. The decision dumbfounded many Australian cricket fans, given his reasonably good form at the time, and sparked calls from some in the media that his axing was due to a personal vendetta the then Australian coach Bob Simpson held against Jones. Other commentators suggested that Jones's penchant for publicly questioning the motives and decisions of the national team selectors brought a premature end to his Test career.

Jones stayed in the one-day team a little longer. He was omitted from the one-day team for the 1993 Ashes tour, but managed to force his way back into the team for one last stint during the 1993–94 season, before being dropped.

Jones also played for Durham and Derbyshire in the English County Championship. He left Derbyshire in mid-season and also had run-ins with authority and team mates in his home state of Victoria. During his career, he scored 19,188 runs in first class matches, including 55 centuries and 88 half centuries and a highest score of 324 not out, at an average of 51.85.

Dean Jones Statistics

Format    Matches    Runs    Avg.    Hs.    100s    50s    Wkts    BB    Catches
Test    52    3631    46.55    216    11    14    1    1/5    34
ODI    164    6068    44.61    145    7    46    3     2/34    54

Dean Jones Achievement

Dean Jones was made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for "service tocricket as a player, coach and commentator, and to the community through fundraising activities for organisations assisting people with cancer.