Comings & Goings & Happy Returns

Damien Martyn Retires

I know I've been giving Damien Martyn a very hard time and he need not have taken the rebuke so personally... :)
Just kidding, but the fact of the matter is, he fell on his sword and called it quits.

There appears to be no sinister motives behind Martyn's decision. Teammates and coaching staff are all convinced that desire, or lack thereof, was the sole reason behind his move to retire barely a week before his hometown Test. Since Adelaide, Martyn has spent time with his wife, Annika, discussing his preference to walk away from the game, and with an email to Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland at 11.15am yesterday, his retirement was confirmed.

Martyn's announcement has come as a major shock to all those involved with the Australian cricket team. At no point did he make known his intention to retire to teammates or coaching staff. Even Ricky Ponting, the best man at his wedding, was unaware of Martyn's decision until informed by phone yesterday afternoon. And Australia's openers, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, have fronted the press in the past two days insisting Martyn would overcome Michael Clarke's challenge and retain his place at No.4 for the Perth Test.

Still, in retrospect, some of the Australians believe the warning signs were there. When Martyn fell to a rash stroke in Australia's fifth-day run chase at Adelaide, he returned to the dressing rooms in a relaxed, almost reflective mood. That is in stark contrast to the dark demeanour he generally displays after posting a low score. Perhaps the decision had already been made.

Here's another interesting article on the WA batsman.

A teen prodigy with the bat, he was stung badly when the critics turned on him after his seventh Test. He never again trusted them, their praise, or the fame they promised.

Holden Caulfield complained in JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye that if he were "a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it. I wouldn't even want them to clap for me. People always clap for the wrong things. If I were a piano player, I'd play it in the goddam closet."

At times Martyn seemed to be of a similar mind. He played his best away from home, scoring nine of his 13 Test hundreds on foreign soil.

He hated the spotlight, was contemptuous of the cricket media pack and seemed always wary. He was, and remains, an enigma. He scorned the time-honoured adage that a batsman must position his feet to drive a ball, yet remained one of the most graceful and effortless batsmen of his era.

Men who defy convention are acceptable to those who insist upon it, until things go wrong. Only then are their eccentricities called to account, and there is some suspicion that two of Martyn's worst shots have attracted as much attention as the remarkable total of his best.

Few have paid as highly as Martyn did for one loose drive.

On January 6, 1994, at the age of 22, he was in the heat of battle against South Africa in Sydney. He scored his third half-century in the first innings of his seventh Test and held his head when the side collapsed in the second.

Martyn took the team from 5-63 to within seven runs of victory, but was out playing an injudicious shot at Allan Donald to leave the score 9-110.

The team lost. Martyn was blamed and unceremoniously dropped. From there he became cricket's David Hicks, spending six seasons in solitary confinement, unable to get a hearing or any sympathy from the selectors.

Ah yes, that infamous stroke in 1994. It was a long road back, but then he had to go and do a similarly rash thing again. No wonder he ended up under the scrutiny once more.
So an era ends. It's a good thing.

In Vogue
The man coming into the Australian Squad to replace Martyn is Voges, Adam Voges.

Although Voges remains a roughie to edge out allrounder Andrew Symonds and make his debut in the third Ashes Test in Perth, starting on Thursday, Clark believes the right-hander is capable of holding down No.4 long-term.

"There's no doubt he can fill the role," Clark said.

"He's got the opportunity, he's got to make the most of it.

"He's got the front running, and if he gets a game he's just got to take advantage of it."

Australia is yet to decide on who will replace Martyn at second drop, although Mike Hussey's seamless elevation from No.5 in the second innings of the second Test in Adelaide would have him favourite.

Michael Clarke has also batted at No.4 for his country and averages over 50 in the position for NSW.

Talent is rife. It's amazing how the selectors stuck with an under-productive Martyn for so long.

On Paul Collingwood
This guy can hit.
On the first day of the Adelaide Test, I was having a conversation with my good friend and Poet DBM and he thought "Collingwood just isn't up to Test standard". I argued, "he might not look it, but he's a grafter". He'd know, because he used to play cricket and what the hell do I know about playing cricket?
Still, Collingwood has been the best performer on the English side this tour.

The thing is, I'm not writing this to rub it into DBM, but this is the amazing thing about sport. I look at Collingwood's stats and think, he might look 'under-gifted' compared to players of the game, but the guy gets it done. There's a lot of merit in having a guy like that in your lineup. You know, not to rub it in again, but he's the opposite of what Damien Martyn has provided in this Ashes series.

BTW, here's a cool little article on the ball of the century.

According to Gatting, because it was Warne's first tour of England, he was given a chaperone in the shape of fellow Victorian Merv Hughes. "And what people don't know," said Gatting, "on the night before the Test he decided to take Warne out for a small drink. What we all know of course is that Merv never had a small drink and on this particular night when we (the England players) were coming out of the pub, they were going in." It was with this in mind that when Gatting faced up to Warne next day, because he thought the young spinner would be "suffering a bit", he expected him to drop the first one a bit short but he didn't. The rest, as they say, is history - but even to this day Gatting believes he did little wrong, that knowing the ball that pitched outside his leg stump could not get past his ample backside he decided to let it go. And as is supported by the television footage, Gatting said even wicketkeeper Ian Healy moved his body to the leg side, proving that even he expected the ball to go that way instead of spinning sharply and cannoning into the off stump.

Andy Pettitte Returns To The Yankee Fold

It seemed somewhat unlikely at the end of his 3 year journey home to Houston, but he found himself at a contractual loose-end and with half a mind to retire, except, he didn't. At 34, Andy Pettitte is coming back to the Yankees.

The Yankees confirmed the deal with a brief statement from General Manager Brian Cashman, and Pettitte’s agent, Randy Hendricks, confirmed the value in an e-mail message. Pettitte, whom the Yankees did not make available for comment, gave the Yankees his oral assurance that he would not exercise his player option if he was injured.

“We have preliminarily agreed to terms with Andy Pettitte on a contract to pitch for the New York Yankees, pending the passing of a physical examination,” Cashman’s statement said.

The Astros had offered Pettitte a one-year, $12 million deal, but rejected Hendricks’s counteroffer of $14 million with an option. The Yankees privately believed that Pettitte preferred to stay in Houston and knew they needed a difference-maker in their proposal.

This makes next year's Yankee rotation, a very interesting thing:

Wang
Pettitte
Moose
Igawa
Karstens/Rasner

Pavano and Randy are now no longer integral to the rotation. If Pavano looks healthy in spring training, watch for him to be shipped out someplace. Randy probably won't be back on opening day from his herniated disc surgery.
There's even talk of Clemens possibly joining Pettitte. As the folks at BTF say, TINSTAAPP!