A bad omen for Damien!
Many say Damien Martyn has been made the scapegoat for the recent debacle in aussie cricket. Let us investigate this claim. We shall look deep into the numbers for possible answers.For the last 2 years Martyns stats look like this , as opposed to his career stats. I am looking at things from the Tour of India late 2003,where Aus didnt fare too well by their own exalted standards,till the recently ended Ashes series.
a cursory glance tells us that this 26 match period if anything has been arguably the best slice of his career. In his last 44 innings he has notched his 3 highest scores in test cricket. Is averaging more than his career average , and now scores a hundred every other time he gets to a fifty; An improvement from 1 in 3 fifties. Let us examine the details a little bit further. Looking into his induvidual hundreds.
42 (no4) caught 1 W 1st Test v SL in SL 2003/04 at Galle [1685]
110 (no4)caught 3
1 (no4)lbw 1 W 2nd Test v SL in SL 2003/04 at Kandy [1688]
161 (no4)stumped 3
Hundreds 1 & 2 : In SL these 2 centuries helped immensely in Aus seal their first series victory in SL in many years. Both were crucial knocks when Australia batted Second.
26 (no4)caught 1 D 2nd Test v Ind in Ind 2004/05 at Chennai [1714]
104 (no5)caught 3
114 (no4)caught 1 W 3rd Test v Ind in Ind 2004/05 at Nagpur [1718]
97 (no4)caught wk 3 ( MOM )
Hundreds 3 & 4 (and the 97 in the 2nd inng) : In India these 2 centuries & the 97 took australia to an unbeatable 2-0 lead against india, helping Aus seal their first series victory in India in 35 years. Both were crucial knocks when Australia batted Second. He was adjudged player of the series.
1 (no4)caught wk 1 W 1st Test v Pak in Aus 2004/05 at Perth [1726]
100* (no4)not out 3
142 (no4)lbw 2 W 2nd Test v Pak in Aus 2004/05 at Melbourne [1729]
DNB - - 4
Hundreds 5 & 6 : Against an attack of Shoaib, sami and the likes in arguably some of the fastest bounciest pitches. Aus won the series and Martyn was man of the series.
165 (no4)caught wk 1 D 2nd Test v NZ in NZ 2004/05 at Wellington [1742]
Hundred 7 : His highest test score . Didnt get the MOM award because Adam Gilchrist scored a 162 & kept brilliantly.
Some points to ponder,
- He has 4 hundreds and a 97 while batting for the second time.
- Most often when he has scored a hundred Australia have gone one to win.
- 5 of the 7 hundreds have been overseas .
- 4 of those in hostile & Alien spinning conditions against the best
spinners in the world (outside of shane warne), viz. Murali, Kumble and
harbhajan.
And in this period before the Ashes he has averaged a whopping 58.18 runs since the India tour. So here are the numbers again.
So, in the last 5 tests , Damien Martyn has scored just one 50, averaged 20 runs per innings. For this he finds himself out of the team and possibly at the very end of this classy career. If all this doesnt read scapegoat , i dont know what does.
Mat I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 100 50 0
Career 61 98 12 4125 165 161 142 47.96 12 22 7
Since 11/03 26 44 3 2040 165 161 142 49.75 7 8 1
a cursory glance tells us that this 26 match period if anything has been arguably the best slice of his career. In his last 44 innings he has notched his 3 highest scores in test cricket. Is averaging more than his career average , and now scores a hundred every other time he gets to a fifty; An improvement from 1 in 3 fifties. Let us examine the details a little bit further. Looking into his induvidual hundreds.
42 (no4) caught 1 W 1st Test v SL in SL 2003/04 at Galle [1685]
110 (no4)caught 3
1 (no4)lbw 1 W 2nd Test v SL in SL 2003/04 at Kandy [1688]
161 (no4)stumped 3
Hundreds 1 & 2 : In SL these 2 centuries helped immensely in Aus seal their first series victory in SL in many years. Both were crucial knocks when Australia batted Second.
26 (no4)caught 1 D 2nd Test v Ind in Ind 2004/05 at Chennai [1714]
104 (no5)caught 3
114 (no4)caught 1 W 3rd Test v Ind in Ind 2004/05 at Nagpur [1718]
97 (no4)caught wk 3 ( MOM )
Hundreds 3 & 4 (and the 97 in the 2nd inng) : In India these 2 centuries & the 97 took australia to an unbeatable 2-0 lead against india, helping Aus seal their first series victory in India in 35 years. Both were crucial knocks when Australia batted Second. He was adjudged player of the series.
1 (no4)caught wk 1 W 1st Test v Pak in Aus 2004/05 at Perth [1726]
100* (no4)not out 3
142 (no4)lbw 2 W 2nd Test v Pak in Aus 2004/05 at Melbourne [1729]
DNB - - 4
Hundreds 5 & 6 : Against an attack of Shoaib, sami and the likes in arguably some of the fastest bounciest pitches. Aus won the series and Martyn was man of the series.
165 (no4)caught wk 1 D 2nd Test v NZ in NZ 2004/05 at Wellington [1742]
Hundred 7 : His highest test score . Didnt get the MOM award because Adam Gilchrist scored a 162 & kept brilliantly.
Some points to ponder,
- He has 4 hundreds and a 97 while batting for the second time.
- Most often when he has scored a hundred Australia have gone one to win.
- 5 of the 7 hundreds have been overseas .
- 4 of those in hostile & Alien spinning conditions against the best
spinners in the world (outside of shane warne), viz. Murali, Kumble and
harbhajan.
And in this period before the Ashes he has averaged a whopping 58.18 runs since the India tour. So here are the numbers again.
Mat I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 100 50 0
Career 61 98 12 4125 165 161 142 47.96 12 22 7
Since 11/03 26 44 3 2040 165 161 142 49.75 7 8 1
Since 11/03 sans ashes 21 35 3 1862 165 161 142 58.18 7 7 1
So, in the last 5 tests , Damien Martyn has scored just one 50, averaged 20 runs per innings. For this he finds himself out of the team and possibly at the very end of this classy career. If all this doesnt read scapegoat , i dont know what does.
posted by Sairam at 12:58 AM
5 Comments:
I know what you will get at in your next blog.
Ganguly Hatao.
eh? :-P
Well manuel it was so obvious that i thought i'd rather not bring it up !
I guess Matryn's omission from the aussie side impacts cricket much more !!
err, Im morpheus in Blogworld, not manuel. Damn, dont i have too many alter lives? :-P
btw, whats this jhol? Not only can i not comment without logging in, additionally, Ive to do a word verification too.
:-|
Hey Sai! Remember the discussion about Emotional compatibility and Professional compatibility?
Write it down dude.
ok this was 20-20 game AUs vs SA but what an innings!!!! class...and just as i'm typing this, Damien receives a standing ovation at his departure (96 of 56)... awesome.
Post a Comment
<< Home