Australian batsman Damien Martyn retires from cricket

PERTH—Australian batsman Damien Martyn announced his immediate retirement from international and domestic cricket, midway through his team’s so-far successful Ashes campaign against England. Martyn, who fought his way back into the Test team after a disappointing run against England in the 2005 Ashes series, notified officials on Friday morning of his decision to retire, Cricket Australia said in a statement.
The 35-year-old scored only 16 runs in the second Ashes Test and 29 in the first but officials said he would have been included in the squad for the upcoming Test in Perth. In a statement Martyn said he was leaving the sport “aware of the tremendous challenges facing Australian cricket including this current Ashes series.” “Such challenges require people who are more than 100 percent committed, dedicated, disciplined and passionate about the game.
“I feel, therefore, it’s time for me to move aside.” His decision was greeted with surprise, given Australia’s 2-0 dominance of the five-match Ashes series so far, the fact that Martyn dominated the recent Champions Trophy win and with the World Cup looming next year. “It is definitely a surprise to me,” former Australian captain Ian Chappell told reporters in Perth.
“The fact that he has got a home Test (in Perth) coming up, that Australia is probably going to win the Ashes back — all those reasons make it tougher and all the more reason to admire him for it.” Chappell said Martyn was possibly pre-empting a decision to drop him from the team. “You don’t have to be Einstein to know that the Australian selectors are going to want to make the side younger pretty soon and he probably felt he was going to be near the top of the list of guys to go,” he said.
“I admire him for getting out before they gave him the chop.” Martyn played 67 Tests, beginning in 1992, scoring 4406 runs at 46.37. He endured a seven-year lock-out from the Australian team after he was blamed for a loss in the 1993-1994 series against South Africa when he played a loose shot in Sydney which resulted in the fall of his wicket, triggering a five-run defeat. Western Australia coach Wayne Clark said Martyn had dedicated himself to getting back into the game after being dropped after that Test.
“He was a bit of a loose cannon for a while, but he changed,” he said. Clark dismissed speculation Martyn had retired for personal reasons. “He has been under a fair bit of pressure to hold his position, his private life is as good as it has been and he’s satisfied with where he is at,” he said.
“He probably hasn’t put the 100 percent into cricket that he knows is needed at this stage and I think he’s made the right decision from the team point of view.” Australia captain Ricky Ponting said the team would miss Martyn. “Damien is one of the world’s most unsung players in both forms of the game and I don’t think it is really understood how good a player he actually is,” he said.
Martyn, who also played 208 one-day international matches, said he had enjoyed everything the game had given him. “I have gained from it more then I could have ever imagined. I have made, in the playing of cricket, lifelong friends,” he said.—Agencies