Cricket has given me the privilege of playing with and against some of the game’s best.
The season I came face to face with Merv Hughes in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition, was also the season I played against one of Australia’s best One Day International cricketers.
Dean Jones came out of retirement during 2000/01 to help his Premier Cricket Club, Melbourne, by playing in its Second XI.
Between 1984 and 1994, Deano, as he was known, had been a swashbuckling batsman for Australia. He played 164 One Day Internationals and 52 Test matches and was named in Australia’s Greatest Ever One Day Team when it was announced by ESPN in 2007.
Dean had lost none of his class as a batsman when my team, North Melbourne Cricket Club, played against him while he was representing Melbourne.
He took our attack apart and made a hundred against us in very quick time.
Dean found the going against our bowlers so easy, that at one stage he asked one of the umpires if he had any golf tees in his pocket.
That was Dean’s none too subtle way of signifying to all concerned that he was ready to tee off on anything our bowlers sent down.
Dean Jones now classifies himself as a cricket entrepreneur who loves playing golf
If any other batsman had inferred they were going to tee off on our bowlers, we would have probably told him to pull his head in.
But the fact it was Dean Jones and he was in full flight, gave us no grounds for a comeback.
Being on the same field and watching Dean bat was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of my time at North Melbourne.
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