Dubai: Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman who died in September, was given a special tribute tributes on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which was Jones’s home ground.
Australian and Indian players united before the first ball after tea to pay respect to the legend alongside late Jones’ wife Jan and daughters Augusta and Phoebe, and former Australia captain Allan Border.
Border, Jones’ daughters and wife walked from the boundary to the centre, carrying his baggy green, sunglasses and Kookaburra bat. They were laid to rest on the stumps at the Great Southern Stand end of the ground.
“Dean Jones absolutely loved this place,” Mike Hussey said on Fox Cricket. “It’s quite befitting the tribute was done Australia vs India. He’s loved over there,” Brett Lee added.
Jones, who had represented Australia in 52 Test matches and 164 ODIs, scoring over 9,600 international runs, died on September 24 in Mumbai.
The 59-year-old, who was part of the Star Sports commentary panel for the 13th Indian Premier League held in the UAE, died in a Mumbai hotel after suffering a cardiac arrest.
