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MELBOURNE: Australian cricket legend Dean Jones has been honoured by his close friends and family at a private funeral on the hallowed the turf of Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The casket of Jones, who died last month, was draped in an Australia flag and carried in a white hearse adorned with flowers spelling “324”, his Test cap number and his highest first-class score, achieved at the MCG.
Jones did a final lap of the MCG with the music of his friends Elton John and INXS playing out in the empty stadium, followed by only 10 mourners due to anti-coronavirus rules.
In a tribute statement, Jones’s widow Jane said, “We have been deeply moved by the outpouring of love for Dean over the last week and can’t thank everyone enough for their support and for sharing their memories with us.”
She further said, “What better way to honour him than with the music of his friends Elton John and INXS echoing throughout the empty stadium.”
“We’d like to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to the Melbourne Cricket Club and the MCG for their willingness to create our personal tribute to Dean, and for Cricket Australia’s support,” she added.
“We will forever miss Dean’s energy, his zest for life, passion for cricket and his love for us as a family,” Jones’s widow Jane concluded.
Jones died of a heart attack in Mumbai while overseas to commentate on the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played 52 Tests from 1984-1992, amassing 3,631 runs at an average of 46.55, while his 164 one-day internationals yielded 6,068 runs at an average of 44.61.
