The name of a cricketer before his time now adorns a contest of yesterday. The men’s domestic 50-over competition was renamed the Dean Jones Trophy on Friday following a fan vote and recommendation from the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame committee.
The Victorian – who died of a stroke in 2020 – was chosen over Michael Bevan and Andrew Symonds. Bevan, the only one of the three still alive, will be recognised in the awarding of the Michael Bevan Medal for player of the match in the final.
Jones’ wife Jane, at the unveiling of the trophy at the MCG on Friday alongside daughters Phoebe and Augusta, said although his death feels recent, time marches on. “We’re at that stage now where we love talking about him, love having some sort of acknowledgement that we can be part of,” she said. “It’s not so painful.”
Related: Dean Jones: Australia loses a sporting hero far too soon | Geoff Lemon
Cricket Victoria chief executive, Nick Cummins, said Jones was an appropriate choice, given the way he changed cricket. “Those who saw him play, the way that he transformed one-day cricket from being a shorter version of Test cricket to playing a game that we just take for granted now,” he said, adding Jones’ trademark sunglasses – then rarely seen on the field of play – were part of his identity.
“At the time it was outrageous and upset conservative cricket fans like my dad, but we all thought it was fantastic, and that really is what Deano did: He catapulted one-day cricket into the modern era.”
Fuelled by entertainers like Jones, cricket’s embrace of shorter formats has continued, and one-dayers have fallen behind T20 in the cricketing pecking order. The declining commercial interest in the domestic 50-over game is reflected in the absence of a naming rights partner this year, despite brands like Mercantile Mutual, ING and Marsh historically enjoying prominence during the Australian summer.
Cricket Australia’s chief of cricket, James Allsopp, said there was nothing preventing a naming rights partner to return, and the competition remained an important proving ground for both the national Test and T20 sides. “It’s almost the combination between the long format and T20 cricket, so there’s a lot to learn about players,” he said.
Cummins said the 50-over format remained a priority for Victoria, who sit in second place behind South Australia after five games. “It’s still very, very important to us. It’s a great build up into the [Sheffield] Shield season, we saw with the World Cup … just how much one-day cricket means across the world, and so we want to continue to build on that terrific heritage that we have.”
Victoria still charges for tickets, but most matches around the country are now free to enter, and the competition is broadcast on Cricket Australia website cricket.com.au without a paywall.
It’s very different to the heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, when fans flocked to McDonalds and Mercantile Mutual Cup matches, relishing the freshness of domestic 50-over matches relative to the tradition of the Sheffield Shield. Steve Waugh hit a sponsor’s sign and won $140,000 for his team.
Jones was as damaging as any batter at the peak, scoring 2,122 runs at an average of 50.5 over 55 domestic one-dayers. He top-scored in 1986 with 139 not out from 153 balls in Victoria’s tally of 215, in a period of ascension that would take him to the top of the game. He won the 1987 World Cup with Australia and was named 1990 Wisden Cricketer of the Year. But by 1994 he was out of the Australian Test and one-day sides, making his captaincy of Victoria’s run to the domestic 50-over title in 1995 bittersweet.
His ongoing enthusiasm for the game in retirement sometimes manifested in strained relations, and at the time of his death Jones had disengaged from Cricket Victoria after he wasn’t considered as a coach of the Melbourne Renegades BBL side. “Although sometimes the relationship was fractious, it was fractious because he wanted the best for Victorian cricket,” Cummins said. “But we recognise that where he was coming from was a place of love and passion, and we’re proud to have him continue to be involved and commemorated.”
Related: Dean Jones, brilliant attacking batsman and punchy character | Vic Marks
Jones’ playing career may have predated the T20 era, but his approach pre-empted it. His strike rate was almost 85 in his first three years playing for Australia in the 1980s, and his running between wickets showed he was in a hurry.
Sadly Jones was gone too soon, and he died in a hotel room in Mumbai during the pandemic aged 59. Covid restrictions made marking his death difficult for the family, but on Friday back at the MCG – the place Jones dubbed “the office” – daughter Phoebe remarked things had “come full circle”.
Augusta said she could hear his voice in her mind. “He’d be very stoked by this, his head would be even bigger.” The man who brought about a revolution in Australian cricket rightfully recognised, even if it is in a format not long for this world.
Article courtesy of
Source link
