By JARROD POTTER
RED leather on willow is the sound of a Dandenong summer.
Cricket is Dandenong’s code of choice for the hotter months and it’s hard to not drive past any reserve in the area not full to the brim with cricketers – both up-coming and out-going, old, young and everything in betwixt.
For as long as there’s been turfed-grass in Dandenong, the Journal has been around to fill in the cricket reports, dating as far back as its archived editions to 1879 as Dandenong and Springvale battled it out for local supremacy.
But throughout all the years and all the competitions, there is one name above all that defines the toil-then-toil-some-more attitude of Dandenong region cricket – Damien Fleming.
Fleming went from scouring the Journal as a budding young Blood to find his figures or name in the goal-kicking, to seeing his name in the national spotlight as one of Australia’s finest bowlers.
But he would’ve been just as thrilled to get a run for the senior side.
“It was fantastic and with the Dandenong Journal there were always the results on the weekends or whatever day you could look up – always made sure you’d kick a couple of goals or get some wickets and runs so you’d get your name in the paper,” Fleming said.
“Realistically, you never think you’re going to get there (representing Australia) – when I was 12 or 13 if you promised me that I could actually get a game for Turf 1 Springy South I would’ve been over the moon.”
The Springvale South swing sensation – whose acumen at aiming for the “avenue of apprehension” earned him a hat-trick on Test debut as well as a World Cup victory in 1999 – will never forget where it all started at Harold Road – and those people – like Peter Mathison and Craig Slocombe – who pushed him and countless other cricketers along the path.
“Playing senior cricket when I was 13 – playing with all the Cleanaway boys with the tatts and guys having beers on the field and all that sort of stuff – but that made me feel really welcome and it was a great initiation into men’s cricket,” Fleming said.
Following his formative years at the Springvale South Cricket Club, Damien’s fast and accurate bowling saw him quickly progress to the state side and onwards to the baggy green where he excelled across 20 Test matches and 88 one day internationals before a recurring shoulder injury put an end to his first class career.
But there was a longing to win a club flag – something he’d never achieved with his grade side South Melbourne Cricket Club – and in the 2005-06 season his return to local cricket to play Sub-District for Noble Park proved a stellar choice as the side collected the flag.
“I wanted to win a flag at senior level – obviously had a lot of success for Australia and we won a Shield and a one-day final for Victoria but I never won anything for my club team South Melbourne,” Fleming said.
“So my cousin-in-law was the president of Noble Park Cricket Club – Craig Ortland – and he said ‘you’ll come and play one more year when you’re finished’ and I said ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ never thinking about it.
“But then I called him and said I was keen to play… and we went on and won the final against Malvern, so it was just a fantastic year.”
Fleming took the path he believes has strengthened Dandenong cricket – with juniors encouraged to rise quickly through the DDCA senior ranks while the elder brigade stick around to cultivate the new prospects.
“I think it helps younger players, if they’re playing Turf 1, Turf 2 as teenagers, I think it prepares them for when they get to grade cricket,” Fleming said.
“So the competition and also with local cricket, as opposed to Premier cricket, older players will stay around and mentor and I know a lot of the Springvale South guys, their sons get into the great culture and the same with Noble Park.
“I’m sure that’s like that throughout most of the DDCA clubs, so make sure it’s easy for kids to play the game of cricket, but also the competition needs to be strong to further their cricket, hopefully all the way to Australia.”
Since Grassmere CC won that first DDCA flag in 1931-32, the league has pushed through cricketers into the higher ranks and as the league extends to Beaconsfield this season at its southerly point and Parkdale towards the beaches, you’ll never dull the sounds of Dandenong’s vibrant cricket community as the next generation is always champing at the bit to get ready for the next season.
