Damien Fleming - Bowlology: Cricket, Life and Stories from the Avenue of Apprehension

My hero, Dennis Lillee, had that much self-belief he was already clapping his delivery in mid-action.

The fans didnt let up, chanting through every ball of Terry Aldermans next over. The great man was so overcome by having reached the milestone that he walked down in front of us at third man even though he was fielding at fine leg.

So my idol, with his thinning hair held in tight by his yellow headband, and the famous golden cricket bat dangling on his hairy chest, was standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. It was like a religious experience, and I knew there and then what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to be a Test cricketer. A fast bowler just like DK, although maybe with just a bit more luck in the hair department.

I recently reviewed the life goals I wrote for myself on returning from the MCG that day, and I gave myself a performance review to see whether I had achieved them.

Batting-wise, I loved Greg Chappell and Allan Border and, for some reason, Kepler Wessels, the South African opening batsman who debuted for Australia in World Series Cricket with his unique crab-like technique. Kepler would slide back toward leg slip and nail anything on the stumps or wider to the off-side boundary. He cut his way to a hundred on Test debut against England, but later in the series the Poms worked out that you could tie him down on leg stump as he couldnt get his bat around his front leg to hit the ball.

In one dry batting spell for the Springvale South under-16s I reverted to the Kepler backlift technique, so I could be ready to smash any ball pitching on or outside off stump for four through the point region. I was promptly bowled for a duck bowled leg stump, Wessels-style.

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Like all kids of that era, I played footy in the winter and cricket in the summer. Mums side of the family were all passionate Carlton fans, while Dads family were Footscray. Naturally, therefore, I picked Hawthorn, which must have been on top of the ladder when I started taking an interest.

We didnt book holidays in September between 1974 and 1994, as the Mighty Hawkers didnt make the finals only three times in these years. Seven premierships came in that era. Michael Tuck played in them all, along with stars such as Leigh Mathews, Peter Knights, Dermott Brereton, Johnny Platten, Robert Dipper DiPierdomenico and the Chief Jason Dunstall. But my favourite was Gary Buckenara. I tried to play like Bucky, who was a dangerous half-forward with a booming kick. He took big screamers and could run in the midfield as well.