Damien Fleming has pinpointed the moment when his Test career ended.
It occurred on The Ashes tour of England in 2001 and came about due to a headwear flaw when watching Pat Rafter play in the Wimbledon Final.
Then-Aussie captain Steve Waugh was a stickler for donning the famous Baggy Green at any given moment so organised for the squad to wear their iconic caps to the All England Club.
On the morning of the sojourn to southwest London, everybody showed up in their Baggy Green aside from the late, great Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, as well as Fleming himself.
It was this act of naivety which cost Fleming his career in the Test arena.
Of course it’s a tongue-in-cheek comment from the former Victorian quick, but some interesting insight nonetheless.
“In the 2001 Ashes tour, we finished a day early and there was a washout (at Wimbledon) so Patty Rafter and Goran (Ivanisevic) played a day later,” Fleming recalled on SEN Cricket.
“Tickets were organised for us to go down and watch. I was very excited, we’d won so there was a big celebration, we were singing the song and a few people were talking about wearing the Baggy Green as we progressed through the alcohol.
“At night you’re thinking it’s just a bit of alcohol talking, but surely this won’t come into play.
“So I rock up for the bus, get on and guess what? Everyone has got their Baggy Greens except for Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and myself.
“We’re on centre stage (at Wimbledon) and you hear this roar. One by one as we walked through there was a massive roar.
“But Steve Waugh was not happy that everyone hasn’t worn the Baggy Green. So there’s got to be ramifications for this.
“You can’t drop Shane Warne. Not again. I think he (Waugh) worked out that didn’t go down very well.
“He can’t drop his brother Mark Waugh. What would that be like at Christmas lunch?
“So, someone has to go and it’s the big-nosed Victorian. Not the smartest thing I ever did. I never played Test match cricket again.”
So, were Fleming’s reasons for foregoing the adornment of the Baggy Green the same as Warne and Waugh’s?
“They were the rebels,” he said.
“I got grouped in with the rebels, whereas mine was genuine naivety, going, ‘Nah, surely we’re not’ (going to were them).
“I paid for it though.
“‘Tugga’, if I knew it was going to have that sort of ramification, I would have worn the Baggy Green.
“End of career. Harsh. And Patty lost.”
For the record, Rafter was beaten by his unseeded Croatian rival Ivanisevic in five sets in a Wimbledon classic after the Aussies had retained The Ashes with a 4-1 series win over England.
Fleming last played Test cricket in February of 2001, but was in England to represent the Aussie ODI side with whom he last played on June 21 of that 2001 tour.
Photo: Alamy/REUTERS
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