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meIt’s not supposed to play out like this. Some bits of information leaking through the Internet late Thursday night, without sources, surely a hoax. Text messages start ringing between people seeking confirmation from each other. But then the reports become firmer, confirmation comes from those in the know. Dean Jones is gone, not beaming as he should have been from the MCG center with the bat raised to the light, but in Mumbai for another commentary job. He is not yet 60 years old.
Sports heroes have their seasons, at rates much longer than the seasons they played. A certain generation ages, then gradually each member abandons the dignity of the advanced years, which is more likely to bring a reverent wave of parting rather than sharp pain. The next generation takes their place as elders. But Dean Jones was nowhere near that generation. His rank still has decades to thrive.
It was strange enough to think of Deano as middle-aged. Whenever he left the media area on a cricket pitch, this version with its white bouffant and thicker silhouette could still surprise someone who knew the image of his playing days. That image was such an important part of who he was. In the same way that it is rare to call someone “Deano” in a newspaper, but Deano was always Deano. No one observing him could really think of him as anything else.
Deano was young. The swagger of youth with the composure of the veteran. Whether it was for Australia or Victoria, he hit like he had seen it all before and couldn’t wait to do it all again. It strutted through the 1980s and 1990s. Flowing mullet, chewed gum, in terms of the time, could have been played by Patrick Swayze. Or Patrick Swayze could have been played by Dean Jones.
Since he didn’t want to play like everyone else did, he was watched like no one else. Radio host Adam White, a boy then and now a Jones authority, responded to his death with the great strokes of memory. “The canary yellow, the baggy green, the navy blue, the zinc on the lip, the sweatband, the county, then the Kookaburra, the running through the gates, the loft on the road, the sunglasses, the confidence . We wanted to play like him, be him. He was our dreams. “
His testing career had its greatness and disappointment, but it’s the game of a day that Jones will remain a monarch. Viv Richards was already the king of the hitting format, but Deano was the one who found the science of it. In a serious game, he played as Virat Kohli long before Kohli existed. Quick feet up and down the wicket to the spinners, to change their lengths and eliminate their mistakes. Without hesitation in throwing himself on the field when the ball was good. Accurate placement in gaps, then rush to turn one into two, two into three. It made centuries faster than running a ball at a time when that was not remotely what was done.
He was in a bad mood, he was contrary, his nose was out of place. He was kicked out of test cricket too early, having played the same number of games as Don Bradman, while everything about them was very different. He probably deserved more time in one-day cricket too – the game of what if it gets interesting if he features Deano at the 1996 World Cup. No one has had a better response to the selectors either, with his MCG century for a world team against Australia just days after their former teammates lost that World Cup final.
As much as he’s still so vitally tied to his past, the version of Deano in the grainy old clips gave way to another life. He took his arguments from the field and took them elsewhere. He enjoyed shooting shots at those who lined him up in line. He also shot a lot in his newspaper column. He recently severed his long relationship with Cricket Victoria after feeling slighted by the organization, something that will be a regret for many now that there is no longer an option for more time to soften the sharpness.
No more time, even though the departure season was a long way off. We shouldn’t be thinking of favorite moments. Video sites should not be loaded with highlights. It should be waiting to air for another IPL game, a safe distance from our tributes and our memories. But here we are. Some buzz on the internet, then the news starts to get through. The conversations begin. Hit their Cricinfo profile to check a stat, and they already added a death date. Deano, he left early one more time.
