Spencer was out of the game once again, but his work was still not done.
Five years later, through his work as a fitness coach, Spencer found himself bowling to a young Ravi Bopara in the Rockingham-Mandurah Cricket Club nets.
“Ravi said ‘Why aren’t you still playing?'” Spencer says. “Knowing how good Ravi was – and is – if he thought I could do it, maybe I should play.”
Following the drugs ban, Spencer felt his time playing for Western Australia was over, so he asked former Zimbabwe and Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin if any counties were looking for a bowler.
Remarkably, at the age of 34, Spencer returned to county cricket in the summer of 2006 on trial at Sussex.
“I thought I was still pretty passionate about the game, but I realized maybe I wasn’t,” says Spencer.
“I was fast, but not as fast as I was as a young man. I was fit enough to do it, but my work ethic was gone. I probably went there for the wrong reasons.”
Spencer played two first-class matches for Sussex against Warwickshire and the touring Sri Lankan team. His last wicket in professional cricket was Kumar Sangakkara.
Overall, he took 36 wickets in 16 first-class matches and 23 wickets in 20 List A games.
Spencer has lived in Perth for almost 20 years. He works in the mines in the northern part of Western Australia.
Moody says there is no doubt that Spencer could have played international cricket. Spencer says he would have happily played for England or Australia, but the accent is 100% Australian.
Spencer has no idea how fast he bowled. He thinks he was told his speed was 158km/h – just over 98mph – but that was “a bit off”.
“I was in the wrong era,” he says, looking at the way modern fast bowlers are managed, or the way he could make money in exchange for the T20 gun.
“It’s a great shame that we didn’t see enough of Duncan Spencer,” says Campbell. “When he got it right – oh my god.”
Spencer didn’t collect wickets, international caps or awards, but he experienced what most people can only dream of.
“When I didn’t have rhythm, I was as bad as anybody could be,” he says.
“When it all clicked, it was a great feeling. It’s effortless. Once you get the rhythm it feels like it’s coming at a moderate pace.
“It’s amazing to bowl fast.”
<a href