PRESSURE and pain were part and parcel of the pursuit of cricketing greatness in the eyes of former Australia and Durham batsman Dean Jones, who died yesterday at the age of 59.

A World Cup winner, innovator of the one-day game and renowned commentator, Jones was content to be “whacked on the nose a few times” and develop the “hide of an armadillo”.

The steadfast attitude of the Australian, who passed away in Mumbai, where he was commentating on the Indian Premier League, helped turn him into one of his country’s finest one-day batsmen.

Jones adopted a cavalier approach at the crease, drawing on an abundance of mental toughness to produce energetic and passionate performances during a decorated, decade-long international career.

The right-hander played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs for Australia between 1984 and 1994. He made 6,068 ODI runs, averaging 44.61, with seven hundreds and 46 fifties, and remains fifth on the all-time ICC batting rankings in the shorter format.

While many will undoubtedly remember his brilliance in 50-over cricket, arguably his finest individual moment on the international scene was a sensational knock of 210 in a tied Test with India in 1986.

The dogged innings in the sweltering heat of Chennai came in only his third outing. He batted at number three, stayed in the middle for 330 minutes, was sick on the field, and found himself in hospital at the end of it.

A year on from that masterclass, he played an integral role in Australia’s surprise maiden World Cup triumph in India, before scoring two centuries and averaging 71 in 1989 as Australia regained the Ashes. They would not relinquish the urn again until 2005.

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg in March 1961, Jones was a proud Victorian.

At club level, he spent his entire career with local side Victoria, interspersed with two short spells in England. In 1992, Jones became Durham’s first overseas player as the county embarked on their first-class adventure, before captaining Derbyshire to a second-placed finish in the County Championship in 1996.

Durham signed the Australian batsman for their inaugural season in first-class cricket in 1992 and he began with a century in a Sunday League win against Lancashire at Durham University's Racecourse Ground.

Cries of “Deano, Deano” often rang round the club grounds Durham used that year as the likeable right-hander rarely failed to make runs.

Although he had to leave early he battled on towards the end of his stint with a broken finger and ended with a first-class average of over 70.

He signed off with a century in both innings of a match against the touring Pakistanis at Chester-le-Street's Ropery Lane ground and turned to give an emotional wave to the crowd on his exit.

Durham did not re-sign him for the following season because they expected him to be in the Australian squad for the 1993 Ashes. But it transpired that his Test career was over.

He went on to coach the international sides of New Zealand and Afghanistan after hanging up his first-class bat in 1998, as well as working with domestic teams in leagues in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.