Cricket Australia to pay emotional tribute to iconic Dean Jones during Boxing Day Test

Cricket Australia will pay an emotional tribute to former Australian batsman Dean Jones during the tea break on Day 1 of the upcoming Boxing Day Test against India. The former cricketer passed away in a tragic manner earlier this year after suffering a heart attack on September 24. Jones was in Mumbai to ply his trade as an analyst for this year’s Indian Premier League.

The cricket fraternity has been paying their tributes to Jones’ legacy since his tragic demise and Cricket Australia has now planned another tribute for the former batsman as a mark of respect for his contribution to the game. Cricket Australia, on Friday, took to Twitter to ask fans to ‘Zinc Up for Deano’. Jones was famous for his trademark style of smearing zinc cream on his bottom lip whenever he went out to play.

The heartwarming event will also have Jones’ wife Jane and daughters Isabella and Phoebe in attendance. Cricket Australia has also announced that the entire Test match will have a whole bay of seats covered with a banner honouring Dean Jones’ legacy. In addition, the tribute will also have the reading of a poem written for Jones by his great friend Chris Driscoll. Cricket Australia has also decided to give a video tribute to Jones at 3:24 pm, as a homage to his Test number, 324.

Wherever you are watching the Boxing Day Test tomorrow, don't forget to Zinc Up for Deano as a tribute to a cricket icon! ❤️ #ZincUpForDeano pic.twitter.com/OuAckab3Ll

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 25, 2020

Playing elevens for Boxing Day Test

Meanwhile, India have announced their playing eleven for the upcoming Test. The visitors have made a total of four changes to the team that lost the first Test by eight wickets in Adelaide. Uncapped Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj will make their debuts while Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have returned to the playing eleven too.

Gill has replaced Prithvi Shaw in the team while Siraj has come for Mohammed Shami. On the other hand, Rishabh Pant and Jadeja have replaced Wriddhiman Saha and Virat Kohli respectively. Shaw and Saha have been dropped after failing to impress in the first Test. Kohli and Shami, on the other hand, are out of the series due to paternity leave and injury respectively. As far as Australia are concerned, their head coach Justin Langer has stated that they are likely to stick with the same playing eleven.