FLEMO'S FINEST

1998-1999 The Ashes - 2nd Test – WACA, Perth

Australia versus England

Australia defeated England by 7 wickets

Man of the match – Damien Fleming

If there is one absolute constant in the world of professional sport, it is the unconditional respect athletes have for their elite counterparts from other codes – both domestically and internationally - and the sports themselves more broadly.

In Australia specifically, the genuine and profound respect we have for players of other codes is enormous, and inevitably leads to cross-pollination of playing, coaching, mentoring and even just general interest and friendships, and is in my opinion more evident here than anywhere else in the world.

Many AFL players dream of playing for Australia against England in an Ashes Test at Lords or scoring a Champion’s League goal in a massive European Soccer Final, many Cricketers don’t shy away from their beloved AFL or NRL Rugby teams, and I don’t know how many times I reckon I’ve heard champions of the ilk of Cameron Smith, Lleyton Hewitt, Damien Oliver and Daniel Ricciardo say that they’d love nothing more than to kick a goal in front of a packed house in an AFL game at the MCG.

One man who fits this bill perhaps better than any sportsperson that I know, is former Australian superstar bowler, Damien Fleming.

Known for his love of the Hawks in the AFL and categoric respect he has within all sporting circles throughout Australia, Damien Fleming forged a magnificent Cricket career for his Country in all formats of the game, and if not for some long term injuries along the journey, would have been even more highly regarded than his already stunning resume demands.

Damien Fleming has an outstanding cricket brain with an innate ability to find a way to outsmart batsmen, and a bag of bowling tricks to rival anyone else on the planet – and that includes our greatest ever spin bowler, the legendary Shane Warne.

Known for his propensity to swing the ball both ways to a ridiculous degree, and particularly late, Fleming used this ability with devastating affect to dismiss batsmen and expose deficiences and loop holes in their often, almost flawless batting techniques.

His pace was also very highly underrated, as was the venom in his bouncer and the brilliance of his wide array of deceptive slower balls, and his unplayable yorkers were simply phenomenal.

Former Australian Captain and cricketing legend in his own right, Steve Waugh regards Damien Fleming, along with Terry Alderman, as the best exponents of the art of swing bowling this country has ever seen.

“Flem has the shoes of Ronal McDonald, a warped sense of musical taste, a wise-cracking sense of humour but an absolute gift for producing wicket-taking deliveries,” Waugh says candidly.

“Besides Shane Warne, he was the one guy in our team most likely to conjure up an unplayable delivery when least expected, and only injuries prevented him from fulfilling his enormous potential,” adds Waugh in his autobiography ‘Out of my comfort zone.’

Despite his ability to swing the ball practically better than anyone, surprisingly Fleming never played a single Test in England - for a variety of reasons - but where his movement of the ball on such seam friendly wickets would have been tailor made for him and ensure he be a devastating proposition to face.

Furthermore, it is largely acknowledged and widely recognised that even the great West Indian teams of the 1990’s preferred facing the brilliant, but predictable line of Glenn McGrath than the perplexing swing bowling of Damien Fleming.

Whilst his longevity in the game purely from matches played perspective was compromised predominately by injury, his impact during his career was simply brilliant, and his statistical numbers speak for themselves – but even numbers can be slightly deceiving, as his importance to his country and ability to deliver big, and when it mattered most, simply cannot be measured.

20 Tests, 4,129 balls bowled, 75 wickets, 25.89 average, 5 wickets in innings three times, best bowling figures 5/30, 1 Hat-trick, 9 catches, 305 Runs, Average 19.06, 2 half centuries, highest score 71 not-out.

88 One Day Internationals, 4,619 balls bowled, 134 wickets, Average 25.38, 5 wickets in inning once, best bowling 5/36, 152 runs, Average 11.69, highest score 29, 14 catches.

So which of Damien Fleming’s magnificent career would he Totally Recall as his absolute finest?

Given he is only the third bowler in history to take a hat-trick on debut against Pakistan in 1994 (and seven wickets in total for the match), you’d be forgiven for thinking this performance would come pretty close to taking the cake.

Unbelievably, and now well acknowledged regularly in the public domain, he would be on the verge of another Test match hat-trick only five years later against a talent stacked India at the Adelaide Oval in 1999, only to be denied by a dropped catch by great mate Shane Warne – a story that is now folklore, and forever etched in cricketing history.

But it would be a performance against the arch enemy in England in the 1998-1999 series in Perth, where Damien Fleming would produce his best ever bowling figures, (9/91) and fondly recalls as one the greatest games he ever played.

5/46 in the first innings, followed by 4/45 in the second innings, completely destroying many in-form English top order batters in the process en-route to man of the match honours and a seven wicket win for Australia.

“I always loved bowling in Perth and this match is important to me because in reality I actually thought it was going to be my last Test,” Fleming says openly.

"I failed to take a wicket in Brisbane because I was probably still fatigued from the unaccustomed time spent at the batting crease for my 71 not out," he laughs.

"I felt this was a do-or-die Test (Perth) for me and I needed a big game to continue my Aussie career. Before the Test, for the first time in my career, I actually wrote down my match goal which was to be Man of the Match. Now, superstars like Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist probably had their Man of the Match speeches written out pre-Test, but for some reason I decided with my Test career in the balance I was going knock up a MOM speech, and as fate would have it I did, after taking 9/91 against the Poms."

“The Hat-trick games/s were obviously amazing highlights from an individual perspective, but the game against England in Perth in ’99 I genuinely felt was as well as I had ever bowled,” he adds.

The quality of this performance by Damien Fleming against the Poms in 1998/1999 should not be underestimated.

England were on the verge of greatness and returning to being a dominant Test Nation, a fact that would manifest and materialize only five years later, with England reclaiming the Ashes in one of the greatest Ashes series ever played in the UK in 2005.

Furthermore, the preceding First Test in the series in Brisbane in 1999 resulted in a draw, the second test in Perth then becoming crucial for both Nations to gain the ascendancy in the series – which Australia would inevitably do before ultimately going on to win the series 3-1.

When asked who Fleming considers the toughest ever batsman he encountered, the elite list he offers is impressive, but one player seemingly stands out from the others.

“There were a lot of great batters from all countries I bowled to - Brian Lara and Saaed Anwar both right up there - but Sachin Tendulkar was in a class of his own,” Fleming says.

Dismissing him seven times throughout his career, his battles with the little Indian Master were a clear highlight of Fleming’s career.

“In simple terms, Sachin Tendulkar made you a better bowler,” Fleming says.

“He not only helped me improve but also other Australian bowlers because when we first bowled to him we had absolutely no idea where to bowl. But you have got to compete. Obviously you start bowling better and better because the margin of error got smaller and smaller. His brilliance forced you to be more accurate,” he adds.

Damien Fleming was an outstanding Australian cricketer who’s ability to execute swing bowling in big games and at clutch moments is as brilliant as it is underrated.

He was an outstanding teammate to those who know him best, a deep thinker of the game, a highly knowledgeable and witty current cricket commentator with a sincere and palpable desire to assist aspiring young cricketers with his Bowlologist project and podcast.

He is a humble champion, a perfect gentleman, and no doubt an inspiration to other former and current professional athletes across all codes, including myself, who I am sure have at some stage dreamed of running into to bowl that third consecutive ball on debut for Australia and taking an unbelievable test match Hat-trick.

Thank you ‘Flem’ for Totally Recalling one of the greatest games you ever played.

Aaron Lord