Damien Martyn - Our Most Boring Batsman ?

Lorelei · Joined: 17 Jul 2000 Location: Ryder Stand/Ponsford Stand

Our good friends at Crikey.com have not let us down with this pearler that I think reiterates what some on this board feel... good stuff Sparkie..!

DAMIEN MARTYN - OUR MOST BORING BATSMAN

Our World Cup correspondent Sparkie reports from Bulawayo:

Sharing the graveyard shift with Crikey watching the Australians dawdle towards Zimbabwe's competitive total, I needed to avoid falling asleep at the sight of Damien Martin's batting (he appears to get paid by the hour ? there is only room for one boring batsman in the Australia team, and Michael Bevan has that spot).

Fortunately, thanks to the magic of Foxtel, I was able to delight in watching Kenya upset the Sri Lankans.

Although the girth of some of the Kenyans suggested one of those exhibition matches they play with ex-test cricketers to raise money for children's hospitals, they thoroughly trounced the Sri Lankans, who until this stage had looked as hot as the Aussies in Pool B.

Watching proper jubilation after each wicket (not Brett Lee choreography), and the general enthusiasm of the side, compounded the enjoyment recently provided by Canada against the Windies.

Australia's win has guaranteed them a final six spot, and made Zimbabwe's task much more difficult, much as expected. By contrast, Kenya's win has totally changed the equations in Pool B. A win by Kenya over Bangladesh (not a given, but more than likely on current form) would see them sharing points near the top of the table.

If they are equal with Sri Lanka and New Zealand (again a highly probable scenario), they would qualify for the final six on head to head results. Sri Lanka can avert this by scoring wins over South Africa and West Indies, but New Zealand's hands are tied, and they need Bangladesh to do their work for them.
Kenya also have another shot against the West Indies, but we?ll take our upsets as they come, and not pre-empt them.

I also noticed the naive (some might say moronic) commentary relating to the Zimbabwe situation, but as always Richie Benaud showed himself to be a class above, commenting that Andy Flower?s wrist bands were white today, a change from the colours of previous days. Richie avoided saying anything controversial, but gave the man a subtle plug for his courageous stand none-the-less. More please.

--
Floreat Pica
BRING BACK NED!
Paul Keating on John Howard -
"He is the greatest job and investment destroyer since the bubonic plague."

Donny · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 3:15 pm

Well said, Assasin! I agree with both paragraphs.

What the Marto critics miss is that having a Martyn and a Bevan amongst such stroke players as Gilly, Hayden, Ponting, Lehmann and Symonds is the ideal mix.

Donny.

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN !!!!

MrsTarrant · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 4:15 pm

What an absolute bloody joke! Whoever reckons the game last night was boring obviously doesn't enjoy their cricket and shouldn't be watching the game! This makes me sick! Martyn I believe scored 50 off 70 balls which isn't bad at all, last night he didn't need to go out there and start smashing them the way he played was exactly the way he should have played! Sure he isn't the most exciting batsman but like Donny stated you need players like Martyn and Bevan in the team to provide the essential balance needed in this game! Martyn is an excellent batsman and I'm sick and tired of people bagging him!

brodie_rocks! · Joined: 07 Jun 2001 Location: VIC

martyn is a champ. he's my fav player based on his guts and determination. any guy who comes back from an incident like what happened back when he first began playing shows alot of grit and guts and true character. he has to be one of the nicest players to watch in world cricket with his elegant, pure textbook strokeplay. so what if he does it slowly?! he steadies the innings when we really need it and he clinically re-assess what we need to do and how to go about it to ensure he does the best for his country by pulling them through the game for a win.

marto's a gun so if u don't like what he does, then turn ur tele off.

~ANGEL~

MrsTarrant · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 5:46 pm

Very well said Steph!

brodie_rocks! · Joined: 07 Jun 2001 Location: VIC

y tunkya. usually i wouldn't be the one to type out my opinion or say it to anyone but myself but when a garbage article like that is written, i suddenly felt the need to express myself. especially when it's about a champ like marto. we should be praising him, not dissing him just because u don't like the way he goes about winning a game for us!

MARTO 4EVA!

~ANGEL~

MrsTarrant · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 5:52 pm

LMAO I couldn't agree more! If you don't like the way he plays just have a perve on him then because he looks damn fine to me! I don't think I'm allowed to say that right? I will be accused of only liking him for his looks now!

brodie_rocks! · Joined: 07 Jun 2001 Location: VIC

haha course not dude! i think he's a spunk too but i like the 'whole' package. he's a gun our marto. if there is any young kids wanting to know the perfect way to play ur shots, all u have to do is look at him. he's a perfectionist. great guy too!

~ANGEL~

[This message has been edited by brodie_rocks! (edited 25 February 2003).]

MrsTarrant · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 6:02 pm

Damn right he is a great package that guy!

JLC · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 1:20 am

Well Steph its a one day game, the whole point is to score quickly....lol lol.

jlc

Its not arrogance if you can back it up

Fate is what you are given, Destiny is what you do with it

Essendon 2000 premiers
2001 runners up
2002 fifth
2003 ????
The slide continues

Pies Premiers 2003 · KEEP SEPTEMBER FREE Joined: 01 Nov 2002 Location: vic

The longer martyn stays out there the quicker he gets....but I agree he certainly is not as exciting as the other batsman in the side....

THE PIES GO MARCHING ON

JLC · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 9:01 am

Get this man a beer

That was well spoken!!!!!

jlc

Its not arrogance if you can back it up

Fate is what you are given, Destiny is what you do with it

Essendon 2000 premiers
2001 runners up
2002 fifth
2003 ????
The slide continues

Donny · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 9:46 am

Sorry, fellas. Way off the mark.

JLC, you have written lots about why Steve Waugh should be in our one-day team and been quite critical about Lehmann and Martyn.

The comparisons tell a different story. In ODIs, Waugh's batting strike rate is 75.91 whereas Martyn's is 77.75 and Lehmann's is 82.34. When you consider Martyn has always batted higher than Waugh, his S/R is excellent.

Waugh averages only 32.9 compared with Martyn's 41.30! Lehmann's average is also better than Waugh's, at 38.85.

McGuane's 77 Bounces, m8 the last time Martyn came in at 3 for not many was in Hobart in the recent VB series. The Aussies were in BIG trouble. He played a wonderful innings, bringing up a century from the last ball!

What's this bloke gotta do to get credibility?!

Donny.

THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN !!!!

MrsTarrant · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 9:47 am

That is absolute rubbish but he also thinks Slats is a better batsman than Langer so I can't hold anything against him! JLC I don't know if you have ever realised that sometimes in one day cricket you don't have to score your runs quickly, sometimes you have to take your time but you wouldn't understand this would you? I wouldn't call 50 runs off 70 balls slow anyway.

JLC · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 9:52 am

Score runs against good opposition that would be a start...lol

Dont bring Steve Waugh into this as he is a champion. Please dont insult anyone on this board by putting his name in a comparison with Martyn.

Holland
Zimbabwe

pfffttt

jlc

Its not arrogance if you can back it up

Fate is what you are given, Destiny is what you do with it

Essendon 2000 premiers
2001 runners up
2002 fifth
2003 ????
The slide continues