The Cricket blog

Damien martyn retires..

Damien martyn, the classy specialist batsmen in the australian side retired in the middle of the ashes series and is said to be away with his family fo vacation in hawaii. It is a sad story for australian cricket and speaks of the pressures for the place in the team given the vast array of talent. After scoring low scores in the first two test matches, martyn announced his decision to retire in a letter to the cricket board, a move which took his teammates and the cricketing world by surprise.
Here is what i think of him..

Personally i have liked his style of batting and the ease at which he plays on the crease with a lot of class and style. Its really disheartening to see such a valuable talent leave the sport. I wonder if any player in the asian continent would have done so in a similar situation? what are your thoughts on the martyn retirement ?

From cricinfo:

Mostly, though, Martyn stuck to the textbook and composed pristine hundreds which, like the feats of the best wicketkeepers, passed almost unnoticed: an observation supported by the curious fact that, despite a Test average in the fifties, he reached the age of 30 without winning a Man-of-the-Match award. He was the quiet man of the 2003 World Cup-raising side, too, playing a minor role until he spanked 88 not out in the final - with a broken finger that later kept him out of a West Indian tour. His magnificent 13-month streak of 1608 Test runs at 61 and two Man-of-the-Series prizes from March 2004 finally moved him from the dressing-room shadows to the more uncomfortable limelight. Showing his hard-earned versatility, he crafted seven centuries on surfaces ranging from raging turners in Sri Lanka and India to green seamers in New Zealand and the hard bounce of home.

Here are some tidbits about his career as a batsmen.

Test debut Australia v West Indies at Brisbane - Nov 27-Dec 1, 1992 scorecard
Last Test Australia v England at Adelaide - Dec 1-5, 2006 scorecard
ODI debut Australia v West Indies at Sydney - Dec 8, 1992 scorecard
Last ODI Australia v West Indies at Mumbai (BS) - Nov 5, 2006 scorecard
Twenty20 Int. debut New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Feb 17, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20 Int. South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg - Feb 24, 2006 scorecard
First-class span 1990/91 - 2006/07
List A span 1991/92 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span 2004/05 - 2005/06