Damien Martyn announces retirement

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www.heraldsun.com.au

AUSTRALIAN Test batsman Damien Martyn has retired from first-class cricket, apparently after being told he would be dropped from the third Test team.

The Australian selectors are meeting today to choose the team for the Test against England in Perth next week.

Martyn, who had scored just 35 runs in his three innings this Ashes series, told Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland of his decision this morning and said it was effective immediately.

"I would like to advise of my retirement from cricket, effective from today,'' Martyn said in a statement.

"I do so with a deep awareness of the opportunities that the game and Cricket Australia have provided for me."

"However, I'm also aware of the tremendous challenges facing Australian cricket including this current Ashes series. Such challenges require people who are more than 100 per cent committed, dedicated, disciplined and passionate about the game, what it seeks to achieve and how those involved in the game can best serve cricket, sport and the wider community."

"I feel, therefore, its time for me to move aside. I have enjoyed everything the game has given me. I have gained from it more then I could have ever imagined. I have made, in the playing of cricket, lifelong friends."

"In particular, I want to thank the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting and all members of the current Australian Test and one-day sides. They have always been utterly supportive, totally professional and completely committed to all that their responsibilities require of them."

"I said to myself when I made this decision in the last 48 hours that I may lose friends in doing what I'm doing. But I also said to myself that if I stayed doing what I was doing I may equally lose respect for myself and the friendship of those around me who are entitled to expect from me more than 100 per cent."

"I wish everyone associated with Cricket Australia the very best. In going, I'd like to commend the game to anyone who wants to achieve personal satisfaction, who wants to make good friends and wants to be part of a value system which will serve them long after they finish playing the game."

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said: "This decision is obviously something Damien has thought long and hard about and I know that I and all of the other members of the team will miss him greatly."

"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. In recent times he won the Test in Johannesburg off his own bat and played a huge role in Australia claiming the ICC Champions Trophy in India for the first time."

"He is one of those players who, as the conditions and situations got harder and more difficult, the better he became. Some of his innings in Sri Lanka and India on turning pitches proved his class and I know I will miss his influence on the Australian team."

Martyn played 67 Tests after making his debut against the West Indies at the Gabba in 1992.
He scored 4406 runs at 46.37.

His final Test was in last week's victory over England in the second 3 mobile Ashes Test in Adelaide.

He also played 208 one-day international matches, the first also against the West Indies in Sydney during the 1992 season and has scored 5346 runs at 40.80.