Damien Fleming, former Australian cricketer played in 20 Tests and 88 ODIs from 1994 to 2001 in an all-conquering Australian cricket team breaking Test and One-day records and winning World Cups.
Fleming was recognised as an expert in the art of swing bowling and is one of only three men (along with Maurice Allom and Peter Petherick) to have taken a hat-trick on Test debut.
In ODI’s he was seen as specialist bowling in the latter overs. Fleming was the last-over specialist in both the 1996 and 1999 World Cup Semi-Finals. In 1996 at Mohali with the West Indies needing six runs to win off five balls, Fleming bowled Courtney Walsh for victory. In 1999 at Edgbaston, with South Africa requiring one run with four balls remaining, it took an Allan Donald brain-fade to send Australia into the final, and Fleming helped Australia get over the line on both occasions.
Following his retirement in 2003, he was appointed coach at the Australian Cricket Academy. It was around this time that the beginnings of his Bowlology theory began to take shape.
In May 2018 it was announced that Fleming would join the 7’s Network TV cricket commentary team, after working on Ch 10 award-winning Big Bash Coverage and BT Sports Ashes coverage. In August 2018 it was announced that he would also join the SEN 1116 radio commentary team.
Damien’s wit and humour have endeared himself to all those lucky enough to hear him speak at events. His seamless transition between comedic tales and serious takes during commentary has captured the interest of cricket fans around the nation during his coverage of either test matches or Sheffield Shield.
He appeared on Before the Bounce with Jason Dunstall and Danny Frawley, a weekly AFL football show broadcast on Foxtel.
Fleming began to make regular appearances during the fourth season of Thank God You're Here where he parodied the prevalence of sportspeople (notably cricketers) endorsing anything in the Australian media.
He also realised a best-selling book “Bowlology - Stories from the Avenue of Apprehension” A collection of humorous stories based around his life in cricket,
Today, Fleming is a popular and humorous keynote and MC figure on the public speaking circuit, and regular questions are asked of the last over he bowled in the 1999 semi-final tie against South Africa and that dropped catch by Shane Warne which denied him his second hat-trick.
