Damien Martyn was born on October 21, 1971 in Darwin, Northern Territory. Damien Martyn made his Test debut for the Australia national cricket team in 1992.

Damien Martyn is a cricketer who plays for the Australia national cricket team. He has been part of the team since 1992 and is one of the most successful players. Damien Martyn had a successful stint with the team.

Martyn was also an occasional middle stepper and respected fieldsman, primarily in the guards, capable of spectacular run-outs. He also kept very occasional wicket at first class level. He was named Man of the Series at 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 Australian Test Player of the Year at the annual presentation in early 2005 the Allan Border Medal.

Background

Martyn's family moved to Perth when he was three years old. He began his cricket training at Girrawheen Senior High School.

In 1990 he began training at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

At the age of 23, Martyn was appointed captain of the Western Australia cricket team.

Domestic Career

Martyn moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family at the age of three and was educated at Girrawheen Senior High School before being selected to the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide in 1990. The following season he made his first class debut for Western Australia, in which he notched 822 runs at 51.37.

Returning to his home arena, Martyn was named Western Australia captain for the 1994/95 season aged 23, becoming the youngest player to achieve that honor. He also captained Australia A in the international ODI tournament of the same season. The following season, he relinquished the captaincy to Tom Moody to focus on his batting.

On September 1, 2007, it was reported in the Daily Telegraph that Martyn had joined the breakaway Indian Cricket League. However, he has since retired from the event due to the birth of his first son, Ryder, but rejoined the ICL in 2008.

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

International Career

Martyn made his Test debut in 1992 when Australia played West Indies at The Gabba in Brisbane.

He also became part of the ODI squad. He didn't get a chance to serve his team regularly and his performance on the field was believable.

Martyn, known for his daring and sometimes carefree stroke play, was chosen to make his Test debut against the West Indies at the Gabba in November 1992, a surprise replacement for Dean Jones. He batted in the middle order, scoring 36 and 15 points. He played in all Tests this season apart from the fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval, where he was replaced by fellow West Australian Justin Langer after suffering a pre-game injury.

However, his performances were unconvincing, totaling 168 runs at 28.16 for the series, only overtaking 50 once with an unbeaten 67* at the MCG. Martyn was also a member of the ODI roster that season, playing less regularly in just four of 11 games and amassing 45 runs at 22.5.

Late Career

Chosen for Australia's 2001 tour of India, he was considered unlucky not to replace a struggling Ponting. His chance to cement a permanent position in the squad came during the 2001 Ashes tour, where he replaced fellow West Australian Justin Langer in the first Test. He published his first Test Century in the First Test at Edgbaston. He was voted Wisden Cricketer of the Year for his performances on The Ashes in the summer of 2001.

Martyn subsequently appeared regularly for Australia, becoming an integral part of the middle class and eventually filling the gap at No. 1st 4 left by Mark Waugh's international retirement. His best form came over a 12 month period from March 2004 where he scored two crucial centuries to help Australia to a 3-0 series whitewash in Sri Lanka. He was then man of the series in India as Australia clinched their first consecutive win on Indian soil in over 30 years.

He made two centuries and narrowly missed becoming the first Australian batsman to make three centuries in three innings since Don Bradman when he was sacked for 97 in the second inning of the third Test. Two centuries at home against Pakistan in 2004/05 and another in New Zealand in 2005 rounded out an outstanding 12 months in which Martyn had 1608 runs averaging 61.84 in 12 months, including 7 Test centuries.

Martyn was awarded the 2005 McGilvray Medal for ABC Test Cricket Player of the Year and was named 2005 Allan Border Medal Test Player of the Year.

After a poor Ashes tour of England in 2005, during which he recorded a total of 178 runs with a 19.77 average, Martyn was dropped from the Australian Test side to play in the 2005 ICC Super Series. However, he was kept in the ODI side in the summer of 2005/06.

He was recalled to the Test group at Brad Hodge's expense for the three Test series in South Africa in March and April 2006. Selectors Chairman Trevor Hohns cited his experience as the primary reason for his recall. His contributions in the first two Tests were minimal but he repaid the confidence of the selection with an important century in the second innings of the third Test that helped lead Australia to victory.

At the 2006 Champions Trophy Tournament, Martyn won back-to-back Man of the Match awards against England and India. He also played an important unbeaten innings in the final against the West Indies to help Australia win the tournament for the first time. He was Australia's leading runs scorer in the tournament.

Records

He won ten Man of the Match awards in ODI cricket from 1999 to 2006. At the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006, Martyn won back-to-back Man of the Match awards against England and India.
He played an unbeaten innings in the final against the West Indies to help Australia win the tournament for the first time. He was Australia's top run scorer in the tournament.

Retirement

On 8 December 2006, Martyn retired from domestic and international cricket, saying: “I would like to announce my retirement from cricket effective today. I do so with a deep awareness of the opportunities that the game and Cricket Australia have provided for me."

Rise to Glory

• After a shaky start to his career, Martyn bounced back.
• In 2001, he scored his first Test century at the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston after replacing Justin Langer. In 2001 he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
• In 2004 he released two centuries that helped Australia to a 3-0 series in Sri Lanka.
• He also became the man of the series in India as Australia won a Test series on Indian soil for the first time in 30 years.
• He was awarded the 2005 McGilvray Medal for ABC Test Cricketer of the Year and the 2005 Allan Border Medal for Test Player of the Year.

Achievements

Martyn scored a century (100 runs or more) on 13 occasions in Test cricket and 5 in One Day International (ODI) matches, but has not scored a century in Twenty20 International.

Martyn scored his first century, some 9 years after his debut, in The Ashes v England on 5 July 2001 at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, scoring 105 runs. His performance on the series earned him the 2001 Wisden Cricket Player of the Year award.

His highest score of 165 runs came against New Zealand on March 18, 2005 at Basin Reserve, Wellington. His last Test century came against South Africa on March 31, 2006 at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, where he scored 101 runs. Out of his 13 Test centuries, 8 have been scored in the first innings and the remainder 5 in the second innings.

Martyn's first ODI century came against New Zealand on March 3, 2000 at Eden Park, Auckland, he scored 116 and didn't stay out. A hit of 144 runs from 149 balls against Zimbabwe on February 4, 2001 at the WACA Ground, Perth is his highest ODI score. His last ODI century was against India on 1 November 2003 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where he scored 100 runs and also won the Man of the Match award.