Goodbye Damien

Australian middle-order batsman Damien Martyn has announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket, effective immediately.

Australian middle-order batsman Damien Martyn has announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket, effective immediately.

The Western Australian said on Friday that he was no longer able to dedicate himself fully to the game and that it was 'time for me to move aside'.

Since scoring a match-winning century at the Wanderers in Johannesburg earlier this year, Martyn has struggled with the bat, notching up scores of 4, 7, 29 and 11 in three Tests against Bangladesh and England.

The 35-year-old has played 67 Tests since making his debut against the West Indies at the Gabba in 1992, scoring 4406 runs at an average of 46.37.

Martyn also played 208 one-day international matches, racking up 5346 runs at 40.80.

"I would like to advise of my retirement from cricket, effective from today (Friday). I do so with a deep awareness of the opportunities that the game and Cricket Australia have provided for me," Martyn said.

"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 percent 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, it's 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."

Martyn said his decision came down to retaining the respect and friendship of his team-mates.

"They have always been utterly supportive, totally professional and completely committed to all that their responsibilities require of them," he said.

"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 percent."

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Martyn was one of the most 'unsung' players in the cricket world and his experience would be missed.

"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," Ponting said.

"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."

The squad for the third Ashes Test in Perth is expected to be announced later on Friday afternoon once the national selectors decide on Martyn's replacement.

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Goodbye Damien
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
You crawled out of the woodwork
And you caressed it through the gap
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your game

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along WA's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Western Australia created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you hit a ton
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Damien should be dropped


And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along WA's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will

Goodbye Damien
From the young man in the 22nd row
Who sees you as something as more than conservative
More than just our Damien Martyn