Dean was born at Gosport in November 1920 and grew up in South Africa,[3] where he played for the Wanderers Cricket Club in Johannesburg.
[4] He returned to England in 1938, at the age of 18, aboard the MV Balmoral Castle and shortly after his arrival he secured a trial with Hampshire County Cricket Club.
In total, Dean made 28 first-class appearances for Hampshire,[5] taking 51 wickets at an average of 31.11, with best figures of 7 for 51.
[7] Dean left Hampshire at the end of the 1949 season and moved to Torquay,[3] where he ran the White Hart Inn public house.
[10] Dean left Devon at the end of the 1954 season and returned to South Africa in 1955, where he represented Eastern Province in a single first-class match against Border at Port Elizabeth in 1956.