Damien Martyn

Damien Richard Martyn (born 21 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs.

Martyn moved with his family to Perth, Western Australia at the age of three, and was educated at Girrawheen Senior High School, before being selected for the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide in 1990.

He made his first class debut for Western Australia the following season, in which he scored 822 runs at 51.37.

He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player from 1999 to 2000 and a regular Test player in 2000 until his retirement in late 2006.

He was primarily a right-handed middle-order batsman with a 'classical' technique, known in particular for his elegant strokemaking square of the wicket on the off-side and through the covers.

Noted for his daring and sometimes cavalier strokeplay, Martyn was selected to make his Test debut against the West Indies in November, 1992 at the Gabba, a surprise replacement for Dean Jones.

He batted in the middle-order, scoring 36 and 15.

He played in all Tests in that season, apart from the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval where he was replaced by fellow Western Australian Justin Langer after sustaining an injury before the match.

However, his performances were unconvincing, totalling 168 runs at 28.16 for the series, passing 50 only once with an unbeaten 67* at the MCG.

Martyn was also a member of the ODI squad in that season, playing less regularly in only four of eleven matches, and aggregating 45 runs at 22.5.

Martyn was subsequently dropped from the Test team in the early 1993 tour to New Zealand, until being recalled for the Third Test at Eden Park, Auckland after Mark Waugh was dropped, scoring 74.

Martyn also played in some of the subsequent ODIs on the New Zealand tour as well as on the 1993 Ashes tour to England, but was dropped from the Test team after Waugh scored centuries in the warm-up matches and had been the leading run scorer in the New Zealand ODIs.

Waugh was third in the Test batting averages, confining Martyn to playing in tour matches against county teams.

Martyn was given another chance in the 1993–94 Australian season when Steve Waugh tore a hamstring and Martyn played in the Boxing Day and New Year's Tests at the MCG and SCG respectively.

Although he managed 59 in the first innings of a low scoring match in Sydney, it was his performance in the second innings which blighted his reputation for many years into the future.

With Australia stumbling while chasing a small target of 117 against South Africa, Martyn had trouble scoring, with an unconvincing 6 from 59 balls in almost two hours as he and Craig McDermott took the total from 8–75 to within sight of victory at 8–110.

He then attempted an airborne cover-drive off Allan Donald and was caught, and Australia lost the Test.

Martyn was heavily criticised by the media who blamed him for the defeat.

He played three more ODIs in that season, before being dropped upon Waugh's return from injury.

Although Waugh would have reprised his position in any case, Martyn lost his position as the reserve batsman and was dropped from subsequent national squads altogether.

After returning to the domestic arena Martyn was appointed as captain of Western Australia in the 1994/95 season at the age of 23, the youngest player to have been given the honour.

He also captained Australia A in the international ODI tournament of the same season.

The following season, he relinquished the captaincy to Tom Moody, in order to concentrate on his batting.

He would not play ODI cricket again until 1997 and Tests until 2000.

Martyn was a member of the Australian team that won two consecutive world titles in a row: the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, as well as being a member of the team that won the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy.

Martyn was also an occasional medium-pacer and distinguished fieldsman primarily in the covers who was capable of creating spectacular run-outs.

He also very occasionally kept wicket at first-class level.

He re-appeared at the start of the millennium when he replaced an injured Ricky Ponting on the tour to New Zealand in early 2000.

Despite topping the averages in New Zealand he made way for Ponting for the home series against the West Indies in 2000/01.

He played one test during that summer, replacing an injured Steve Waugh for Australia's victory at Adelaide where he remained not out in both innings.

He was selected on Australia's tour to India in 2001 and was considered unlucky not to replace a struggling Ponting.

His chance to consolidate a permanent position in the side came during the 2001 Ashes tour where he replaced fellow West Australian Justin Langer in the first test.

He posted his maiden test century in the first test at Edgbaston.

He was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year as a result of his performances in The Ashes in the summer of 2001.

Martyn subsequently put in regular appearances for Australia, becoming integral to the middle-order and eventually filling the void at no. 4 left by Mark Waugh's international retirement.

He was named man of the series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2004, to help Australia defeat India on the subcontinent for the first time in more than 30 years, and was named in early 2005 as the Australian Test Player of the Year at the annual Allan Border Medal presentations.

His best form came over a twelve-month period beginning in March 2004 where he scored two crucial centuries to help Australia to a 3–0 series whitewash in Sri Lanka.

On 1 September 2007, it was reported in the Daily Telegraph that Martyn had joined the break-away Indian Cricket League.

However, since then he has pulled out of the event due to the birth of his first son, Ryder, but rejoined the ICL for 2008.

On 19 January 2010, Martyn was signed for US$100,000 to play for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.