A cricket legend
THE name Dean Jones (or Deano as he is affectionately known) probably doesn’t ring a bell to a lot of sporting lovers in our region, but to cricket fans he is a legend.
This Australian cricket icon tragically and suddenly passed away last week while preparing to commentate on a cricket series in Mumbai, India.
The outflow of grief and tributes was a compliment to the man’s place in people’s hearts.
The Australian Prime Minister said: “A genuine good guy and a huge loss. Our hearts go out Dean’s family, friends, the Australian cricket family and his many fans.”
Jones’s favourite all time cricketer Sir Viv Richards had this to say: “You were more than a player, you were my friend, my brother, Rest in Peace, Always in my heart.”
Even one of the greatest cricketers of our time Sachin Tendulkar commented: “Absolutely heart breaking news, I had the opportunity to play against him in Australia, may his soul rest in peace.”
The accolades and tributes were nonstop from Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and cricket idol Virat Kohli as the list continued.
My own story with Dean Jones began a few years ago when I was requested to arrange an entertaining and engaging guest speaker for an international service organisation who were having their three-day regional meeting here in Nadi.
Thinking about the audience who would be participating in the event it was agreed as the majority of guests were arriving from many countries in the region including Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga etc, we should try a sporting figure that would be both accommodating and engaging.
After some thought it was decided Dean Jones would fit into this role like a hand in a glove and we confirmed him as our guest speaker. He was a world class commentator, had been one of the world’s greatest cricketers plus had charisma to burn as he was no stranger to the limelight.
He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of fame and many believe he was one of the greatest one day international cricketers ever.
I have met and interacted with cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Brett Lee and VVS Laxman before, but because I have never played cricket I found it a little hard to relate and discuss with them their passion for the game.
In Dean’s case, he was over the moon when he arrived at Nadi airport for the conference. I didn’t know anything about the game and found it refreshing that he was able to have a conversation about something other than his beloved cricket.
My initial reaction when we first met was that he was indeed a larger than life character who lived life to the full.
He was certainly outgoing and because of this I had to ask a few friends of mine to accompany me while we accommodated him for his three-day stay.
We hosted him very well indeed as he had the chance to enjoy our Fijian warmth and welcome. He did note how kind and friendly everybody was and genuinely appreciated our local hospitality.
As a guest speaker he was great and accommodated everyone that attended, in fact he attended both our welcoming reception party and spoke at our grand gala dinner which was most pleasing.
My overall impression of this cricket icon was he certainly lived life to the full and to his credit he achieved so much in the short time he had here on earth.
He was a man who wanted to enjoy every minute of his time and also a man who loved to be in the company of others and give advice where he could.
A good lesson to all of us here is to live life to your greatest potential, never hurt anyone and be kind because you never know when your time is up.
You were loved by so many and will be missed by all your cricket fans throughout the globe. Rest in peace from your friends here in Fiji.
Dean Mervyn Jones March 24th, 1961 to September, 24th 2020 - R.I.P