The Dean machine of Sept 1986

This week marks 40 years since the start of the 1986 Tied Test For cricket fans of that era mdash not sure how many of them still get the same kick out of the modern game mdash it could hardly have been better than September 1986 That particular month ushered in a bumper international home season involving Australia Sri Lanka and later Pakistan in both formats of the game Australia were clearly the underdogs Their last series win had come in January 1984 when Greg Chappell Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh were playing their final seasonAfter those departures Australia lost both home and away to the WI besides succumbing to England and NZ But true to their reputation they backed themselves in 1986 Cricket manager mdash later known as coach mdash Bob Simpson was there to work with captain Allan BorderldquoThough the names of some of the players may not register immediately I hope by the end of the tour the Indian fans will know them wellrdquo Border said One Australian who lived up to what his captain hoped for was Dean Jones The Victorian began the series in Chennai with a double century that could have killed him scored in brutally oppressive conditionsHere was a man about to play only his third Test having not figured in one for twoandahalf years Border offered him the No 3 slot and Jones accepted the pivotal position He thought about the great players who had occupied it before him mdash Don Bradman Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell The Test began on September 18 When Australia chose to bat their No 3 was not only padded up while David Boon and Geoff Marsh walked out he also had his gloves onldquoI was nervous as hell I had to change my gloves because they were wet alreadyrdquo Jones told me in 2004 The nervousness vanished when he faced his first ball Yet Jones admitted that he didnrsquot believe he was good enough for Test cricket against quality spin bowlers such as Ravi Shastri Maninder Singh and Shivlal Yadav Jones began getting dehydrated on the second day when he reached 125 By the time he got to 176 he wanted to return to the dressing room But Border had a way of playing on Jonesrsquos ego He told him that if he went off a tough Queenslander Greg Ritchie would come in to take his placeJonesrsquos response was emphatic First he told his skipper he was going nowhere Second he told him he couldnrsquot speak to him in that fashion And third he threatened Border with an uncomfortable encounter with his bat handle Jones may have been livid with his captain at the time but by 2004 when I asked him to recall that innings he hailed Border ldquoThat was his way of telling every player that these are the standards I expect and sometimes you have to go through a brick wall for your countryrdquo Jones was eventually dismissed for 210Border only realised how seriously ill Jones was when he had to be admitted to hospital Simpson in an ABCproduced documentary on the Tied Test recalled how Jones had to be helped into his clothes and gear at the end of each interval just so he could return to the battleJournalist Mike Coward who had reported on heroic deeds across all sports wrote in Cricket Beyond the Bazaar that Jonesrsquos ldquodressersrdquo forgot to equip him with his abdominal and thigh guard when he was sent to the ldquofront linerdquo for the final phase of his firstinnings epic Coward wrote ldquoNot since I stood close to those who trailed American Frank Shorter into the Munich stadium at the end of the marathon at the 20th Olympiad 1972 had I seen a sportsman so distressed His pupils were dilated his lips swollen his face red and his whole body weak and racked with painrdquoIf Greg Matthews was the bowling hero of the Tied Test with 10 wickets Jones was undoubtedly its batting star In my 2004 conversation with Jones he also spoke with immense pride about his unbeaten 73 in the third and final Test at Mumbai where he put on 146 with Border ldquoWe got through to lunch I went bangbang and got to 60 before the new ball was due and Allan said to me lsquoNow you are a tough Test player What yoursquove done today has impressed me more than the 200 in Madrasrsquo Gee I felt 10 feet tall on the flight back home that night The Chennai Test was my Mount Everest If you want to become a good Test player you have to climb your Mount EverestrdquoIt would be a grave injustice to the deceased cricketer if Dean Jones were remembered solely for his Chennai innings He was flamboyant in any suit prolific with his County or Kookaburra bat runhungry outrageous and yet radiated a warmth and congeniality that endeared him to those around him There was far more to Dean Jones than the 210 in Chennai That perhaps is a story for another daymiddayrsquos Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper