Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones dies suddenly of heart attack in India. Video / Sky News Australia
Kerri-Anne Hamilton has shared an emotional tribute to her former lover Dean Jones, after his tragic death last week.
Hamilton, who had a secret affair with the Australian cricket legend and is the mother of his 11-year-old son, Koby, broke her social media silence on Sunday in stunning fashion.
"After 22 years the sparklers have gone out," she captioned a post featuring three photographs of herself and Jones. "Every time I saw him I had fire in my belly! His love for me, my love for him will never die. I adore you! I am heartbroken!"
Jones has been publicly mourned by his wife of more than 30 years, Jane, and their daughters Isabella and Phoebe since suffering a cardiac arrest in India while on commentary duties.
The woman who had a secret affair and shares a child with late cricket legend Dean Jones has posted a daring declaration of their love. Photo / kezzkoby/Instagram
"My girls and I are devastated and saddened beyond belief to hear of Dean's death in India. My beautiful husband, the love of my life has lived his life with every bit of energy at his disposal, and he leaves an enormous gap in our lives which can never be filled," Jane said.
But Hamilton is determined for the public to know about her relationship with the 59-year-old — and for their son to be acknowledged.
She also posted a series of photographs of Koby and his dad spending time together, completely at ease and sharing their love of sport.
In one shot they're wearing matching LA Dodgers baseball caps, in others Koby wears a Carlton Football Club hat — having obviously adopted his dad's favourite footy team.
Koby also shares his dad's passion for cricket and other snaps shared by Hamilton show him with Jones at the SCG in the 2016-17 summer — and reading a book the Victorian great wrote called Dean Jones' Cricket Tips (The Things They Don't Teach You at the Academy).
"If you know my son you've probably heard him say, 'Do you know my dad is Dean Jones?'" Hamilton wrote in the accompanying caption. "Proud is an understatement! He adores him and will no doubt live his life with a bat and ball in his hand."
She added the hashtag #junior324 — a nod to Jones' Test cap number and highest first-class score.
The pair carried on a decade-long affair. Photo / kezzkoby/Instagram
Hamilton also posted a photograph of a table covered in bouquets of flowers and thanked her friends for their support.
"I am very lucky to have wonderful people around me," she wrote. "Koby and I feel loved and supported."
It comes after Hamilton gave an interview that was published on Sunday morning where she revealed Koby's response after hearing his dad died.
"It's OK, mum," Koby told his mum, a flight attendant who Jones met in the late 1990s before carrying on a secret decade-long affair. "I know my dad loved me."
Hamilton spoke out because she believed Koby deserved recognition after the passing of his dad.
"It's an awful time for his wife and his other kids. I'm not trying to step out of line. I want to speak to you for Koby," she told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I don't want Koby to go to school and for kids to say, 'We didn't see you, how do we know you were his son?' He deserves acknowledgment."
Australia was stunned when Jones confirmed his relationship with Kerri-Anne in July, 2010.
The 2007 Victorian Father of the Year had met the blonde Sydneysider at a celebrity golf event where she was working as a promotions model.
They carried on an affair for nine years, with sources telling the Herald Sun at the time Jones would fly Kerri-Anne "all over the world" before the relationship soured when she fell pregnant and began asking for child support payments.
The pair carried on a decade-long affair. Photo / kezzkoby/Instagram
Kerri-Anne responded by selling her story to A Current Affair, declaring she didn't know he was married when they met and wasn't the one who pursued the relationship.
"We were having lunch and he said, 'I don't know if you know this, but I'm married'," Kerri-Anne told ACA. "Sometimes it would go nearly a year that I would ignore him and not a day would go past without me receiving a message from him.
"I never gave him an ultimatum. I never said, 'Leave your wife'. The turning point was when I asked him for child support."
But after not meeting his son for almost two years, Jones turned a corner and did his best to be a father to Koby.
"Dean was always trying to look after everyone; his family and also me and Koby. He made everyone feel special and loved," Kerri-Anne told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"It was never easy for him. Deano didn't meet Koby until he was almost two. He just said to me one day, 'This is silly, I need to meet him'. Anyway, I didn't need to introduce them. I told Koby that there was someone here to see him and told him it was his daddy. He just raced to him, tripped down the stairs and jumped into his arms.
"He always made sure Koby and I were OK. I am very respectful to his family and he loved his wife and his girls. It's not my intention to cause problems. He had a son and he loves his son. I've always taken what Dean could give us and that's always been enough."
A standout young baseballer and cricketer, Koby had Face-Timed with Jones as recently as two days before his death, where his father showed him around the Indian commentary booth he was working in and had colleague Brett Lee — who valiantly attempted to resuscitate Jones — say hello.
"Koby would always wait with such anticipation for Dean to call," Kerri-Anne said. "He looked up to him and he would have questions written down to ask him because he was so knowledgeable. They'd talk stats for ages and he'd mentor him in his sport; how to swing (the bat), how to think.
"He always said he would give anything to have a relationship with Koby, but he never wanted to hurt anyone. He put everything on the line for us and I'll never forget that. I know it's so complicated, but his dedication to Koby and all his kids it says everything … He gave Koby a voice and he had a voice in his life. Right now (Koby) is shocked. He was so proud of his dad. His dad was, is and will always be his hero."
