Jones, who scored 1,338 runs in leading Derbyshire to second place in the County Championship last season, their best finish since 1936, has quit both as captain and overseas player and is expected to fly home to Australia this weekend.
He blamed the county's wretched start to the season on senior players ``who have great difficulty in coming to terms with the fundamentals necessary for success''.
In a statement issued through the club, Jones alleged: ``Over the past month, a few senior players have failed to give me any support in my endeavours to carry on the club's success from last season. I can no longer tolerate the current situation.''
No names were mentioned but it is common knowledge that Jones's relationships with Dominic Cork and Phil DeFreitas, and former captain Kim Barnett, had become tense.
Cork is believed to have been upset by remarks Jones is alleged to have made about the groin strain which has kept Cork out of action since the first championship game of the season.
Derbyshire said yesterday that Cork's injury has been diagnosed as a 'Gilmore groin' by the Harley Street specialist Gerry Gilmore, after whom the condition, a form of hernia, is named. Secretary Stewart Edwards said: ``As a result of this diagnosis, Dominic will undergo surgery on Tuesday and will need six weeks for recuperation.''
DeFreitas is known to have had a number of confrontations over what he sees as Jones's tactical limitations and perceived poor man-management skills.
Barnett, who retired from the captaincy two seasons ago after 13 years in charge, has worked hard to stay away from dressing-room politics since then but in recent weeks has felt himself targeted for criticism. There have also been persistent rumours that Jones and Les Stillman, the former Victoria coach he took with him to the County Ground, had ``grown apart'' on many issues.
In an attempt to get all the grievances out in the open, club chairman Mike Horton and cricket committee chairman Ian Buxton on Tuesday summoned the two Australians to a meeting, which also included DeFreitas and Barnett. Hopes of peace and a renewed focus within the dressing-room proved futile.
When confronted with complaints about his leadership, Jones insisted on resignation, leaving Derbyshire in dis- array after a poor start to the season which has left them one point off the bottom of the championship and the Sunday League. They also went out of the Benson and Hedges Cup at the zonal stage.
Jones's selection policy has contributed to grumbling among some of the younger players. Batsman Michael Mays was said to be ``devastated'' when he was dropped after making a career-best 67 in Derbyshire's recent victory over the Australians, and Johnny Owen, who scored two centuries last season, has since disappeared from the senior squad.
Speaking after the success against the tourists, Jones said: ``Let's hope this sparks us to get everything moving in the right direction again.''
In the event, one spark from that game ignited further problems for Jones. Several players shared the committee's dismay when Jones backed Chris Adams in a disciplinary wrangle over the batsman's protracted display of dissent towards umpire Vanburn Holder.
Adams, Jones's closest ally in the dressing-room, initially refused to accept the club's punishment but later agreed to pay a fine of £750.
Yesterday, after demanding an end to back-biting during a meeting with the team, Horton said: ``Dean Jones's departure is the result of an internal political situation which we had hoped to overcome without any such drastic reaction.
``I spent a lot of hours trying to dissuade Dean and he was also told that he should stay and see it through by the senior players, but he insisted on going and I have had to accept that reluctantly. I'm devastated.''
The situation appears to have parallels with that which precipitated Jones's removal from the captaincy of Victoria two years ago after what was described as a ``dressing-room coup''.