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Known for his flamboyance and attacking batting style, Dean Jones' career-defining innings ended with him in hospital on a saline drip.

Justin Langer wants his Australian cricketers to dream big like Dean Jones did.

Jones' death, aged 59, has rocked the cricketing world, but his on-field deeds will inspire players for generations to come.

The Victorian batting great's international career is full of legendary moments, but one will be talked about, and admired, forever.

Playing in just his third Test match - and first for more than two years - Jones put together an innings that instantly earned him a lifetime's worth of respect.

Then aged 25, Jones batted for more than eight hours in conditions that were beyond oppressive.

The temperature in Madras hovered around 40C, accompanied by a humidity reading in excess of 90 per cent, but nothing could stop Jones.

Not even extreme dehydration, which resulted in constant vomiting, hallucinations, involuntary urination and full body cramps.

The only time he seemed to be in control of his own body was when he was smashing the Indian bowlers to all parts of Chidambaram Stadium.

When Jones was finally dismissed for 210, he was rushed directly to hospital and placed on a saline drip for two hours.

"The fractured memory of that amazing experience still jumps back into my mind in bits and pieces, some of them blurred and some crystal clear, so many years down the track," he wrote in his autobiography, Deano My Call.

Jones still batted in his customary No.3 position in the second innings and somehow hit 48 in an ODI just two days after the dramatic tied Test.

Langer revealed on Friday he was in talks to bring Jones back into the Australian set-up in a coaching role ahead of next year's Twenty20 World Cup.

But the national coach says Jones' feats, at such a young age, will still be used to remind his players about what is possible.

"We talk about it regularly and what the greats of the game do," Langer said.

"One of the things when you start playing for Australia is you have an opportunity to become a great player.

"One of the beautiful things about the game of cricket is that we are great storytellers.

"That story (of Jones' innings) gets bigger and bigger and bigger over time. It takes our breath away when you hear about how tough 'AB' (Allan Border) was on him.

"There's no doubt those stories can help our players and give them confidence or belief or the opportunity to dream to be a hero or a legend like Dean Jones was."

DEAN JONES' MADRAS EPIC BY THE NUMBERS

Runs: 210

Balls: 330

Fours: 27

Sixes: 2

Minutes: 502