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Langer reveals Jones was set for new role with Aussie team

Australian men's coach Justin Langer reflects on a treasured recent memory with ‘The Ledge’, Dean Jones

It was earlier in this wretched year, when a handful of Australia's cricket greats organised a backyard gathering in line with Western Australia's COVID19 restrictions, that Justin Langer foresaw a new role for Dean Jones.

Langer, the national men's team coach, spent an afternoon with former WA and Australia teammates Geoff Marsh, Tom Moody and Adam Gilchrist during which they placed a series of video phone calls to members of the triumphant 1989 Ashes touring party.

While that team's skipper Allan Border, larrikin fast bowler Carl Rackemann and wry off-spinner Tim May (now residing in Austin, Texas) provided some memorable anecdotes, it was the interaction with Jones that set Langer thinking.

As a livewire batter and fielder, Jones revolutionised the way one-day cricket was played in the 1980s and since retirement in 1998 he had forged an equally impressive reputation as a commentator, Twenty20 coach and thoughtful innovator with myriad ideas on the modern game.

Langer decided, in the wake of that reminiscing session he described as "one of the great afternoons of my life" he would invite Jones to take on the role of mentor to Australia's men's T20 team ahead of next year's World Cup in India.

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It was to be a similar appointment as in-house inspiration and counsellor to that filled by fellow former greats Mike Hussey (in the T20 set-up), Ricky Ponting (during last year's ICC one-day World Cup) and Steve Waugh (for the 2019 Ashes campaign in the UK).

Tragically, Jones's sudden death due to heart attack yesterday while in Mumbai where he was working as a media commentator for the Indian Premier League means Langer's dream will go unrealised.

But the impact Jones wielded on Australia and world cricket, coupled with the passion he brought to sharing and nurturing the game around the globe will remain an essential part of the fabric of Langer's teams from here on.

"I was only talking to Jonesy last week," Langer said today, after recounting his shock at hearing news of Jones's death last night.

"He was so passionate about Australian cricket, he was so passionate about the game of cricket full-stop and we were talking about how we can do things better.

"In the Australian cricket team, we talk about who’s going to be our next Dean Jones, who’s going to be our next Michael Bevan, our next Michael Hussey; who’s going to be the (Indian maestro M.S.) Dhoni for us, who's going to be the Jos Buttler (England's star limited-overs batter).

"And Dean Jones is one of those people. He could have brought so much for us.

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"Sadly that's not going to happen. But the things I've learned from him and the legacy he leaves to Australian cricket and Australian cricketers won't be lost on us."

Langer was just 15 when Jones completed his epic 210 against India in Chennai that landed him in hospital due to heat exhaustion, a feat his then-coach (and ex-Test great) Bob Simpson declared the greatest innings ever played by an Australian cricketer.

The pair's first on-field encounter came in Langer's Sheffield Shield debut five years later, in December 1991.

He recalls Jones was dropped "on one or two" and went on to bat for almost seven hours, scoring a double-century, and that evening in the dressing rooms he stressed to a wide-eyed Langer and his young teammate Damien Martyn the importance of ensuring big scores were turned into bigger centuries.

Jones then lost his Test place to Martyn at the start of the 1992-93 series against the West Indies, and when Martyn was injured in a training mishap three matches later Langer was drafted in for the first of what would be 105 appearances in the Baggy Green Cap.

In the space of two years, Jones had evolved from an on-field hero of Langer's, to a rival, to a predecessor in the ever-expanding brotherhood of Australia Test cricketers.

But throughout their relationship, Jones remained a source of counsel and wisdom.

"He became more of a fatherly figure down the track," Langer recalled.

"We were watching him leading into our first-class debuts and he was something else because of his energy and his strut and the way he took on (West Indies fast bowler Curtly) Ambrose.

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"Then when we played against him, … he was a competitor, he was intimidating, and he was tough.

"But over time, like when he gave us that advice, you could tell he was passionate about the game and about helping people.

"There's not that many players who have revolutionised the game – you think about Warney (Shane Warne), you think about Adam Gilchrist, and Dean Jones with one-day cricket, with his running between the wickets, his athleticism and the way he took on the game.

"And like all great players he was very, very mentally and physically tough and they are the things that you admire in an Australian cricketer."

Upon learning of Jones's sudden death last night from Cricket Australia Chair Earl Eddings, Langer revisited the text message the late great had sent in the wake of the impromptu, virtual 1989 Ashes reunion earlier this year.

He had written 'Boys, thank you so much for thinking about me, I'm so jealous I wish I was there with you right now'.

It was a sentiment Langer believes perfectly captured Jones's character, and why he was so beloved by cricket and beyond.

"It was just so much fun," Langer said of that afternoon spent reminiscing.

"I can imagine those times, I can imagine the friendships, and I can imagine the broken hearts of not only his family but also some of his teammates.

"It’s the great thing about playing cricket, you forge great friendships and that’s why the cricket world will be so sad.

"That afternoon made me realise why I loved playing cricket for Australia so much."

Asked how he believed Jones – known as 'Deano' to the broader world but more often 'Legend' (or 'Ledge') among his close cohort of teammates - would like to be remembered, Langer couldn't help but laugh.

"As a legend," he smiled.

"He’d love to be remembered as someone who was passionate not just about Australian cricket, but the game of cricket.

"He loved it. He was bigger than life.

"I think the word 'legend' sums up Deano.

"He probably called himself The Ledge. We all called him The Ledge.

"The stories get bigger and bigger, and they keep getting passed through to the new generations of players.

"There’s no doubt that those stories can help our players and they can give them confidence or belief or the opportunity to dream, to be a hero or a legend like Dean Jones was."