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Tony Jones: The Dean Jones phone call I'll never forget
By Tony Jones
"The bastards have done it to me again."
Although 26 years ago, I remember the words so vividly.
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A furious Dean Jones was on the phone to his wife Jane, having just learned of his dumping from the Australian one-day team.
Dean Jones' remembered by Nine News' Tony Jones (Today)
It was in the South African town of Bloemfontein, home to then Proteas captain Hanse Cronje.
I was sitting in the press box, my desk directly in front of a set of louvre windows which separated the journalists and the Australian dressing room.
The shouting, as it turned out, was from Jones.
Furious, he stormed into the near vacant press box and made a beeline for me.
"Can I use your phone?" he asked.
Given this was before the mobile phone era, it was my desk phone Jones was wanting to use.
He then asked his wife to check his contract details, explaining that he'd been relegated to 12th man duties for what was the eighth and final one-day match of the series.
Realising that something significant was happening I made a half-hearted attempt to get up from my seat and give Jones some privacy.
Tributes flow for cricket great Dean Jones
He placed a hand on my shoulder and directed me back into my seat.
It was as if to say "No, stay here… I want you to hear this."
So, I stayed, took it all in and was left in no doubt that Australia's most gifted one-day player was about to quit his international career.
The next morning, 30 minutes after my story had gone to air on Nine News, Jones held a media conference in the conference room of the team hotel to announce that he was retiring from international cricket.
What caused his demotion from the team remains a mystery, but what was abundantly clear was that Dean Jones refused to be treated with anything but respect.
And why wouldn't he?
Since arriving on the international scene in 1984, Jones soon earned the respect of his teammates, opposition and fans.
Those fans grew in huge numbers as it became apparent that Jones was changing the white ball game as we knew it.
His approach was cavalier and confident, possessing footwork that would make Fred Astaire jealous.
Dean Jones in action for Australia in 1994. (The Age)
Spin, pace… it mattered not to Jones who relished the bat versus ball contest.
There'll be so much written about Dean Jones over the coming days, his rivalry with Curtly Ambrose, the double century in Madras to name but two stories which are now part of cricket folklore.
There will always be passing references to his fallouts with officialdom.
Above all though, he was a man who had a genuine charm, a cheeky wit and an insatiable love of the game that he simply couldn't get enough of.
In a commentary and coaching sense he still had much to offer.
It's nothing short of cruel that his life has been cut short.
Fortunately, his cricket highlight reels are such that he'll keep entertaining for years to come.
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