Damien Martyn announces immediate retirement
cut and pasted from http://au.sports.yahoo.com/061106/2/ykdb.html
Martyn was not going to be dropped: CA
Friday December 8, 3:48 PM
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland says Damien Martyn was going to be retained in the Australian squad for the third Ashes Test before his shock decision to retire.
Martyn, 35, has been under pressure to hold his middle order spot after scoring just 35 runs in his three innings in the series.
But Sutherland has told reporters the selectors had decided to retain him in the squad for the Perth Test.
Sutherland said he spoke extensively with Martyn, who cited a lack of motivation for his decision to quit first class cricket immediately and said it had been coming on for some time.
Martyn's mood seemed to be one of relief that he had made his decision, Sutherland said.
Martyn told Sutherland of his decision to quit first class cricket on Friday and, in a CA statement, said he no longer felt sufficiently committed to the game.
"I feel therefore, it's time for me to move aside," Martyn said.
Martyn played 67 Tests for Australia from 1992, scoring 4,406 runs and 13 centuries and twice fought his way back into the team after being dropped by the selectors.
"I've enjoyed everything the game has given me," Martyn said in the statement.
"I have gained from it more than I could ever have imagined.
"I have made in the playing of cricket, life-long friends."
Martyn thanked his Australian team-mates and captain Ricky Ponting for their support.
However he conceded his surprise decision to retire might put some of his colleagues off side.
"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," he said.
"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."
Ponting said he and the other team members would miss Martyn's presence.
"Martyn 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," Ponting said.
Martyn made his Test debut in 1992 against the West Indies at the Gabba but lost his place the following season when he was widely condemned for playing a costly shot in Australia's narrow loss to South Africa at the SCG.
He spent six years out of the Test team but regained his place during Australia's tour of New Zealand.
He cemented his position in the team during the 2001 Ashes series, when he scored his maiden Test century at Edgbaston.
Martyn went on to establish himself as a permanent member of the side batting at No.4, which included an outstanding 2004 when he scored six centuries in a calendar year.
However he lost his place again, after the 2005 Ashes series loss in England.
He returned to the team during this year's tour of South Africa, where he scored a match-winning 101 in the first Test at Johannesburg.
However his five innings' since that century yielded 56 runs.
Martyn averaged 46.38 in his 67 Tests with a highest score of 165.
He also played 208 one-day internationals for Australia, including five centuries, and starred in his side's win over India in the 2003 World Cup final, when he scored an unbeaten 88 in a huge partnership with Ponting.
Damien Martyn announces immediate retirement
cut and pasted from www.yahoo.com.au
Australia Batsman Damien Martyn Has Announced His Dramatic Retirement From
cricket - just three days after his side's stunning second Ashes Test victory in Adelaide. The Western Australia player was under pressure for his place after compiling only 45 runs in three innings during the Ashes series.
