Chris Martin (cricketer)

Summary

Christopher Stewart Martin (born 10 December 1974) is a former New Zealand cricketer. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Martin played provincial cricket for Auckland, having formerly played for the Canterbury Wizards.

Chris Martin
Personal information
Full name
Christopher Stewart Martin
Born (1974-12-10) 10 December 1974 (age 49)
Christchurch, New Zealand
NicknameThe Phantom, The Walking Wicket, Tommy
Height183 m (600 ft 5 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 211)17 November 2000 v South Africa
Last Test2 January 2013 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 119)2 January 2001 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI23 February 2008 v England
T20I debut (cap 24)12 September 2007 v Kenya
Last T20I7 February 2008 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1997/98–2004/05Canterbury
2005/06–2008/09Auckland
2008Warwickshire
2009/10Canterbury
2010Essex
2010/11–2012/13Auckland
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 71 20 192 142
Runs scored 123 8 479 86
Batting average 2.36 1.60 3.71 2.86
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 12* 3 25 13
Balls bowled 14,026 948 36,858 6,920
Wickets 233 18 599 193
Bowling average 33.81 44.66 31.83 29.16
5 wickets in innings 10 0 23 3
10 wickets in match 1 0 1 0
Best bowling 6/26 3/62 6/26 6/24
Catches/stumpings 14/– 7/– 34/– 28/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 13 January 2019

He also signed for the English county cricket side, Warwickshire, for their 2008 domestic campaign and played one first-class match for Essex in 2010. In 1999 he played a season of club cricket in Scotland for Heriots FP Cricket Club.

He retired from all cricket in late 2013.

International career edit

Martin is one of seven New Zealand Test cricketers to have taken 200 wickets.[1] In 2011 he was recognised as New Zealand's premier cricketer, when he was awarded the inaugural Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, at the New Zealand cricket awards ceremony. Although predominantly a Test bowler, Martin moved back into contention for One Day Internationals after International Cricket Council rule changes permitted substitutions during games. Although the rule has since been revoked, Martin has remained on the fringes of the ODI squad and was called up to the New Zealand World Cup 2007 squad, as a replacement for the injured Daryl Tuffey.

Batting action edit

Martin was well known for being an extremely poor batsman, even by the low standards generally expected of tail-end batsman, and his batting gained him more publicity than his bowling.[2] Martin has the rather dubious distinction of belonging to a select group of cricketers whose number of wickets taken exceeds runs scored; Bhagwat Chandrasekhar is the only other cricketer to meet this distinction (assuming a qualification of 30 Tests played), and only Holcombe "Hopper" Read – who played when pitches were uncovered – has played Test cricket and finished with a lower first-class batting average than Martin. Martin holds the record for the most pairs recorded in Test match history (7).[3] He is also the only cricketer to be dismissed for a diamond duck (run out on 0 without facing a ball) twice in Test cricket – against England in 2004 and South Africa in 2013.[4]

On 9 January 2011, Martin notched up the milestone of 100 career Test match runs in the 1st Test against Pakistan at Seddon Park.[5] He took his 500th wicket in first-class cricket, with the dismissal of Tanvir Ahmed on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan in January 2011.[6]

Retirement edit

On 3 July 2013 Martin announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.[7] He bowed out as the third highest Test wicket-taker in New Zealand's history.

References edit

  1. ^ "100 or More Wickets for New Zealand in Test Cricket". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Chris Martin". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Records / Test matches / Batting records / Most pairs in career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. ^ "HowSTAT! Test Cricket – Diamond Ducks".
  5. ^ "1st Test Match Scorecard between Pakistan and New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Resurgent Pakistan thrash poor New Zealand in Hamilton". BBC Sport. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Martin calls time on fascinating career". Wisden India. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

External links edit