Former Australia batsman Dean Jones who featured in the rare tied cricket Test against India in Chennai in 1986 by making 210 died suddenly of a heart attack in Mumbai, India where he was a commentator in the Dug-Out during the IPL on Thursday.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed sadness at his death at the age of 59 describing him as a “prolific batter”.
“We are extremely sad to hear of Dean’s sudden death and I would like to extend our deep condolences to his family and friends on behalf of the ICC”, it said in a statement.
Jones played in 52 Tests and 164 ODIs and was part of the 1987 Australia team which won the World Cup.
“He had a significant impact on the game of cricket as a player, as an advocate for the development of the sport, as a coach and latterly in his role as a broadcaster. He will be sorely missed by all those in the cricket family,” the ICC statement further added.
In his 52 Tests Jones made 3631 runs at an average of 46.55 while in 164 ODIs he aggregated 6068 runs at an average of 44.61 with seven hundreds and 46 fifties. He was number five on the all-time MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Batting Rankings in the format.
In the epic tied Test Jones battled exhaustion and illness to make a heroic 210 in what would be only the second tied Test ever. He retired from international cricket in 1994 and went on to become a coach and more recently a broadcaster commentating on cricket around the world.