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Quiet man Martyn prepares for tough contest

Source: Sporting Life - June 24, 2005

Damien Martyn knows the pain when the Australian axe falls and admits it is a prospect which will be excruciating should the Ashes be lost.

So dominant have the Australians been in Test cricket's most prestigious series that contemplating such a result has not penetrated the psyche Down Under.

While personal failures have infiltrated the team in recent times, the sum of the parts has always proved sufficient, with 33-year-old Martyn providing considerable bulk to the total.

This tussle might prove their toughest assignment since opening up a chasm of a lead in the world Test rankings - the challenge of India fizzled out before any beacons were lit last year - but defeat will not be tolerated.

"There is a lot of hype about the series at home," Martyn reflected upon arrival here.

"Australian people don't think we're going to lose but they think it is going to be a contest.

"We always expect a contest, but obviously this time the England side come into the series with a good record.

"There is always pressure; none of us can sit back. Most of the team, except the young guys, have been dropped, even Ricky Ponting, and we know that a run of bad performances and you're out of the team."

The joke doing the rounds in the Australian camp is the management are in control of the passports and returning home will not be permitted if unsuccessful.

Martyn might not have been here at all but for a relentless drive to get back into the best team on the planet after a six-year absence.

As a young man, nay boy of 21, he rode onto the scene on exuberance, a mount which dumped him almost as swiftly as it delivered him.

His technique was sound, his temperament less so and after one or two flamboyant shots too many he saw things from the outside again.

He contemplated a career in the travel business but dedication to a journey of a different ilk, this time a slow, character-building trek, returned the Western Australian to the threshold.

By 2000, having served his apprenticeship in the one-day team for a couple of years, he had unclasped the secret of success: silent accumulation among the hubbub of the team's batting engine.

Twelve months later he applied it to strike a maiden Test hundred in an Ashes thrashing at Edgbaston; he has been at peace as a quiet man ever since.

His seen-but-not-heard approach fits perfectly into the team dynamic, allowing Ponting, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to make the noise.

"I think in our side we've got lots of champion superstars and it doesn't really bother me that I don't get the attention that someone like Ponting or Warne gets.

"People like me and Justin Langer are the quieter ones, the backroom boys, and not always in the media," Martyn said.

"Which can be a good thing. I think in any side you need different sorts of people.

"Glenn McGrath says to me that I should pick on a bowler like he picks on a batsman, but I say it doesn't quite work like that."

Last time he was here, in 2004, he averaged above 70, the kind of form he found himself once again last winter.

When the Australians needed Martyn in India, he answered unceremoniously; his response to responsibility undaunting.

This unassuming version of the same guy was all quite a contrast to the original model, with looks befitting the description, who was dumped after seven Tests not long after graduating from the renowned academy run by Rod Marsh, the man who overhauled England's production system in recent years.

One of Marsh's greatest strengths has been to 'round' cricketers so that lifestyle issues, such as fitness and diet, are regarded as important as a net session.

Martyn did not heed that in his time in Adelaide and suffered the consequences when he was ditched after defeat to South Africa. It has been a painful lesson.

"At the time I thought it was the worst thing ever, but looking at it from this age I didn't deserve to play," Martyn reflected.

"I thought that you could just play cricket, you didn't need to do anything else."

He like his 2005 colleagues will hope enough is done once again.