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| March 10, 2003 | Monday | Muharram 6, 1424 |
Martyn happy to be the quiet achiever
PORT ELIZABETH (South Africa), March 9: Australia batsman Damien Martyn is the quiet achiever of the world champions’ line-up and is happy to stay that way.
While other players grab headlines, the 31-year-old Martyn goes about his business in an unassuming way.
But he still plays a pivotal role in the success of a side now unbeaten in seven matches during the tournament.
The Western Australia right-hander was at it again on Friday against Sri Lanka, crafting 52 from 58 balls while his captain Ricky Ponting, with 114, and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, who passed 5,000 one-day runs on the way to scoring 99, took the plaudits.
Almost unnoticed, Martyn has scored three fifties as part of his haul of 204 runs at an average of 51.
“We do joke about it in the dressing room, about certain players grabbing the headlines all the time,” he said on Saturday.
“I guess it could frustrate you as batting is my craft, you try to do it well and you don’t get too many hundreds or significant scores in your career.
“But the way the likes of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting have been batting, you just can’t compete with that so it really doesn’t bother me.
“The way I see it, you could be in the press for making a hundred or a negative thing but if you are not there at all then you are just in the background, being quiet and everyone’s leaving you alone.”
In a side of big names, Martyn is a player who has mastered the art of blending into that background.
He has therefore missed out on the commercial endorsements enjoyed by others. That does not seem to bother him either.
“Even though there are no egos in the team there are a lot of superstars,” he said.
“You are always going to get the stars who have the endorsements but I don’t worry about that and I don’t think I should be getting the deals anyway.
“At the moment I’m just looking to play and taking everything on board because this could be my last World Cup...I want to enjoy it as you can’t play forever,” he added.
“In the team I’m outgoing but I haven’t gone out of my way to get a newspaper column or do adverts or become a public figure.
“My character in the public sense is quieter, not so much shy as just keeping myself to myself.”
This is his second World Cup. In 1999, Martyn was a squad player, just back in the side after four years in the international wilderness; now he is established at number four.
“In 1999 I was like Jimmy Maher in the current squad, the back-up batsman, so I feel for him now,” said Martyn. “Having said that, although I only played two games I was just happy to be there.—Reuters
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