MUMBAI, Sep 24: Former Australian cricketer and a noted cricket commentator Dean Jones passed away in Mumbai in a massive heart attack on Thursday. The 59-year old Jones was in India as part of the Star Sports commentary panel for the ongoing Indian Premier League and was seen giving his expert commentary from the studio in Mumbai in the IPL match played in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening.
Jones, regarded as one of the finest batsmen of his generation, played 52 Tests and 164 One-Day Internationals for Australia in an international career that spanned 10 years between 1984 and 1994.
He scored 3,631 runs in Tests at an average of 46.55 with 11 hundreds and 14 half-centuries and over 6,000 runs in ODIs with seven centuries and 46 fifties.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing away of Mr. Dean Mervyn Jones. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest,” Star Sports said in a press release.
“We express our deep condolences to his family and stand ready to support them in this difficult time. We are in touch with the Australian High Commission to make the necessary arrangements,” the release added.
“Jones was one of the great ambassadors of the game associating himself with Cricket development across South Asia. He was passionate about discovering new talent and nurturing young cricketers. He was a champion commentator whose presence and presentation of the game always brought joy to millions of fans. He will be sorely missed by everyone at Star and his millions of fans across the globe. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,” the broadcasters said.
After his retirement, he worked as a coach and commentator and was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2019.
(Manas Dasgupta)