Dean Jones

Melbourne: In a sensational revelation, former Australian cricketer Dean Jones Sunday said that he fathered a child outside his marriage but insisted that he was not involved in any legal tangle with the yet-to-be named mother.

Jones said he has a son, aged about one, after an “on-and-off relationship” with a Sydney woman.

The 49-year-old Jones’s revelation came after Channel Nine said it would publicly expose him on one of its programmes. “Following an on-and-off relationship with a woman, a child was conceived and subsequently delivered,” Jones said.

“My immediate aim is to seek the forgiveness and understanding of my family,” said Jones, who has two daughters with wife Jane.

Jones, who played 52 Tests and 164 one-day Internationals before retiring in 1994, said he was unaware of any legal claim against him and maintained he had met every financial obligation.

“I can also confirm that I have supported the mother and child more generously than was agreed. At no stage, have I declined to meet my obligations,” he said.

The child’s mother is believed to have taken legal action as part of a battle over child support.

“It only became a story because a baby was born to his mistress about 12 months ago and there was a question mark over paternity,” an Australian daily reported.

“He (Jones) was questioning whether he was the father. Then, when a DNA test revealed he was the dad, he was asking the question whether he should actually have to pay child support. So this issue turned into a child support battle… Papers have now been lodged in the courts,” he said. (PTI)