Melbourne, July 20 (IANS) The love child of former Australian cricketer Dean Jones and his mistress was not planned and the relationship soured after the cricketer was asked for child support payments, it was revealed Tuesday.
In a paid interview aired on the Nine Network’s A Current Affair program Monday night, 35-year-old Kerri-Anne Hamilton, flight attendant and part-time model, revealed details of her extramarital affairs with the Victorian batsman, which began in 1998, 12 years into Jones’s 24-year marriage.
In August last year, Hamilton gave birth to the pair’s child, Koby, but she denied the conception was planned.
‘It couldn’t be further from the truth,’ The Australian quoted her as saying in the interview.
‘I was working as an international flight attendant — I was lucky to know what week we were in let alone anything to do with a making-baby cycle.’
Three months before Hamilton gave birth, the relationship with Jones soured after he was asked for child support payments.
‘He ran away from it, thought he was above it, thought he didn’t have to help me at all… that he’s the victim,’ Hamilton said.
The former Australian batsman has two daughters — Phoebe, 19, and Isabella, 14 — with his wife Jane.
Hamilton said she wasn’t aware Jones was married until three months into their relationship, at which point she tried to end it.
‘Back in 98 it was a bit like we’re in the dark ages; there was no google, no internet… the only information I would get was from people I asked,’ she said.
‘I changed my phone number, I wouldn’t take his calls, I did many many things to end it through the years but he just dangled the carrot.’
The affair continued for close to 10 years, with the pair travelling abroad together and socialising with Jones’s friends.
However, Hamilton said Jones’s wife had no knowledge of the affair. ‘Absolutely not. It was a secret,’ she said.
Jones, who was awarded Victorian Father of the Year in 2007, had his title removed Monday.
‘It’s an essential action on our part as it doesn’t fit with our creditability or our charter,’ the president of the Fathers Day Council of Victoria, Don Parsons, told The Australian.
At his peak, Jones was rated as one of the world’s best one-day international batsmen. He played 164 ODIs between 1984 and 1994, scoring 6,068 runs at an average of 44.61. He also appeared in 52 Tests between 1984 and 1992, scoring 3,631 runs at an average of 46.55.
