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The Rediff Interview /Dean Jones

'I was shocked and outraged at the allegations'

The semifinal. Taking on Pakistan in Lahore. What was the experience like? What kind of gameplan did the side take into the game?

I will remember the semi-final against Pakistan in1987 in Lahore for many reasons. We had already defeated India in India, here we managed the same feat against Pakistan. People will never understand how much confidence we as a team derived from these accomplishments, and how far into the future its effects stretched.

Our gameplan was the same as before, score singles and the boundaries will look after themselves. Catch everything, and bowl bloody straight. If the batsmen miss - we hit the stumps.

David Boon

I remembered two incidents from that match. David Boon danced down the wicket and smashed a delivery from Tauseef Ahmed straight back at the bowler, who got a badly broken thumb from trying to take that one. The other incident was an injury to their keeper Salim Yousuf. I missed a wrong ‘un from Qadir that deflected from my pads into the mouth of Yousuf. He had a badly gashed mouth and lost several teeth, and that caused Miandad to take the gloves. Pakistan was always struggling after that, and the game ended in a brilliant victory for the Aussies.

When we walked off the ground in a buoyant mood, Bob Simpson was there, very worried about our security. He asked the team whether we would like to travel to Calcutta now, or go on the next day's scheduled flight. The boys could not pack their bags quick enough, and within one hour after the biggest win of our lives, we were on plane to win the World Cup.

The final, before a full house at the Eden Gardens -- what was it like, the experience, the winning?

A full house at the Eden Gardens  for the 1987 World Cup final

Winning the World Cup in Calcutta in front of the biggest crowd we have ever seen equals with Ashes victories as the greatest thing any cricketer can achieve. To play at Eden Gardens is a cricketing experience, and to have the locals support you in a World Cup Final is something I will never forget.

Allan Border raising the  1987 World Cup

I still have great memories of Allan Border raising the World Cup, and then the whole team ran a victory lap with fireworks going off above our heads, lapping up the applause from our Indian friends. What an experience! It took the team two hours to get through the Indian crowds and back to our hotel just one km away. And did we care? Not on your life!

Allan Border was so jubilant obviously, but he started to realise that he now had got a team that possibly could go on to be the No 1 Test team in the world. He deserves every credit because this man has dragged the baggy green cap out of the mud, dusted and cleaned it, and restored it back on top of the cricketing tree.

There was a dramatic, before-and-after feel to the Australian side before, and after, the World Cup win. What caused the transformation? Could you trace the route the side took to become world beaters?

Every aspect of the Australian game from that point on was being analysed by every team in the world. Every country was frightened of us. We had a steady batting line up. Our bowlers would rather have dot balls than wickets.We were the best fielding team, with fieldsmen like Border who hit the stumps at any given opportunity.

Preparation is a vital element in any successful team. But the major reason why Australia won the World Cup and then went on to win everything else in sight was because we had discipline to stick to our team goals and tactics under pressure. It sounds so simple, but the whole team believed that these tactics were the formula to success. Countries started to copy our training drills and our team tactics, which is the biggest compliment of all.

The Ashes series of 1988-'89 was another big one for you personally. What memories do you have of that time?

The 1989 Ashes win will rate as equal to our World Cup win. What a tour that was, everyone contributed in some way or another to win the Ashes on English soil for the first time in 50 years. Did we have a party! That one lasted for at least a week!

Personally it was a high point in my cricket career. Again, it wasn’t without incident. I fractured my cheekbone in 4 places trying to hook a ball in Sussex. It took a while to get my confidence back but once I did, things really started to go my way. To play on all the famous grounds and to beat the Poms on their own soil was, let us say ….enjoyable.

Shane Warne and Mark Waugh recently admitted to taking money in exchange for information -- do you think they were punished enough? Is the demand, being made in some quarters, for a suspension/ban justified?

Shane Warne

Shane Warne and Mark Waugh did acknowledge the fact that they did have a liaison with an Indian bookmaker. Both players were fined over US$6,000 each. In my time, they both never changed their performances at any time to suit bookmakers' bets. I was and still am proud to be on the same ground as them. Both are honourable people, both have a huge respect for their country, they are both proud of playing for Australia. The point people are missing is that they gave advice, and advice alone, to a bookmaker. Never did they change their performance. There is a big difference!

Mark Waugh

Both players received the right penalty at the time, because they will both be carrying the extra baggage that goes with their crime. The taxation office has reputedly mentioned that it will go through their taxation assessments with a fine-tooth comb. Future endorsements will be tarnished or devalued, and constant speculation about their activities on and off the ground will persist. So don't worry -- they have been punished enough.

They at least had the guts to admit to their association with a bookmaker. There obviously are other players in the world who cannot admit to the same mistake, or maybe they made the most fatal sin, they played for the bookies' money and not for their country.

One way or the other, your name kept popping up when the subject turned to match-fixing. From your experiences, especially in the sub-continent, would you say match-fixing exists? To what extent? And where? Which teams would you say are guilty of the practise, assuming it does exist?

In my humble opinion, I never knew of any match fixing in matches I played in the sub-continent or anywhere else. I just cannot believe any player would change his performance to help line his pockets, or bookmakers' pockets for that matter. By the sounds of it lately, though, it has been going on, and that just takes away the innocence and spirit of the game.

Now, if there is a batting collapse through some good bowling, captaincy or fielding, the cricket fans will not look at these circumstances with any credibility, they will think it was because of fixing. And what a pity that is! Players deserving of tributes will miss out, because the cricket fan will never know whether the player is entitled to them or not.

Outstanding batsman, probably the best runner between wickets in one day cricket ever, brilliant fielder. Do you think, at the end of it all, that your stint with the Australian side was as extended as your gifts merited? Steve Waugh, a contemporary from that 1987 squad, is still playing at his prime -- what stood in the way of your own longevity?

Sarfraz Nawaz

Sarfraz Nawaz mentioned in court recently that the reason Dean Jones was forced to retire was because he had affiliations with Indian bookmakers. Obviously, I was shocked and outraged at these allegations. It also led to me to think that people cannot believe that I have now retired.

I retired from International cricket because I did not want to be pigeon-holed as just a one day player. I have prided myself on all parts of my game, more particularly on the way I played Test cricket. The major reason for my non-selection for Tests was that when you play against certain teams, you must have different teams to suit your team’s tactics.

Steve Waugh

So when we played the Windies in 1992, Australia opted to use two spinners in Warne and May. The use of two spinners led to the fact that you can only have two fast bowlers, and that meant one of your middle order batsmen had to do some work with the ball. Therefore, the Waugh twins were selected ahead of me, because they are not only capable batsmen at this level, they are also very handy bowlers, Steve could bowl first change and Mark could spin the ball. I couldn't bowl, so I lost out.

Unfortunately, people are looking for more sinister reasons, but the bottomline is that the Aussies have only lost one Test series since 1992. That series was against India recently. So, as a player, you cannot criticise the statistics because the team must and always should come first! The game has been wonderful to me, I have made a good living out of the game, travelled around the world, meet royalty, Prime Ministers, rock stars, it has given me a lovely home. I have got no complaints.