Damien Martyn: A Tribute

Ya, I know its coming too late. I definitely have to write about one of the few Australians whom I admired. A cricketer who features in the list of players I love and adore and very importantly, gets a place in my list of likes just behin Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and Shane Bond. He is among those rare breed of players who come in, grace the field with some exotic shorts and leaves as quietly as they came in. The fact remains that Marto is still an underrated cricketer.
The amazing thing to be noted in his career is that he was never the same throughout. Martyn had an exile of 7 years from international cricket. The pre-exile Martyn and the post-exile Martyn were two polar personalities.


His debut in 1992 saw him as a rash 21 year old who flayed anything outside the off stump. In the 1993-94 season when Martyn threw his wicket at a crucial stage against South Africa and it costed Australia the match, Martyn was sent packing and it took him a total of 7 years to get back to international cricket. After his comeback, Martyn was a personification of class and elegance. If you want to show an aspiring cricketer how to play the shorts in the book, you can play any footage from Martyn's innings.
He was Australia's silent warrior in the 2003 World Cup until he pasted the Indian bowlers in the final for a blistering 88 with a broken finger. Damien Martyn came under the axe again after Australia's disastrous 2005 Ashes campaign, but was retained for the one day side. His chance came again when he was selected for the tour to South Africa where he played his way to a composed 101 and won the final test and the series for Australia. After this Martyn played a vital role in Australia's first ever champion's trophy victory. The 2006 edition of Ashes again saw his form dwindling and Martyn decided to move away gracefully after the first two tests.
One of the greatest ever cricketers who wielded the willow like a magic wand!! Cricket will miss Marto deeply!!