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After the Boxing Day rest, Martyn returns to one-day arena

Source: smh.com.au - January 11, 2006

Damien Martyn was at the peak of his powers. Having averaged 103.33 in the Test series against Pakistan last season, the elegant West Australian stormed through the one-day portion of the summer with 240 runs at 60. His next order of business, you suspected, was to mete out similar punishment to someone called Andrew Flintoff. Matthew Hoggard stood no chance.

Fast-forward 12 months. Now a Test discard (that Flintoff could play, after all), Martyn enters the limited-overs series from the relative anonymity of the West Australian side - his only display for the cameras a dashing 96 from 56 deliveries against South Africa in Monday night's Twenty20 international.

Certainly, 2005 proved quite the rollercoaster for Martyn. And while he seems resigned to drawing the curtain on his Test career - the solid form of Mike Hussey and, to a lesser extent, Brad Hodge blocking all roads back to the baggy green - the 34-year-old is determined to maintain his place in the Australian one-day side ahead of next year's World Cup.

"It's great to come in [to the one-day series] pretty fresh, having not been on the circuit for the last four or five months," Martyn said after his man-of-the-match performance at the Gabba. "You never give up on [a Test recall] … but you've got to be realistic.

"I've got no regrets. I certainly would have taken 60 Test matches 10 years ago."

The World Cup is of special significance to Martyn. In 2003, the right-hander emerged as the hero for Australia in the final, batting with a shattered right index finger to complete an unbeaten 88 against India at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

His partnership with Ricky Ponting, who top-scored with 140 not out, all but secured the title for Australia - albeit at a significant cost. Martyn was ruled out of the ensuing West Indies tour on account of the battered finger.

Lately, Martyn has again experienced finger trouble, sidelining him from state cricket for a month at the end of 2005. Now rehabilitated and rejuvenated, he is keen to inject vitality into an Australian one-day side whose Test-playing members may be fatigued after recent series against the World XI, West Indies and South Africa.

With Matthew Hayden on the outer in one-day internationals, Martyn's efforts at the top of Australia's Twenty20 order prompted some to ponder whether a shift to opener might be in the offing. Ponting, certainly, was amenable to the idea. "If he plays like that tonight, he can open anytime," Ponting quipped.

Martyn's thoughts?

"I've done it before, it's been enjoyable, but at the moment my role has been batting No.4," he said. "But it's really whatever Rick and the selectors want … I'll bat anywhere if I get a game."

- ALEX BROWN