Damien Martyn - Early International Career

Early International Career

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