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Scrutiny too much for Martyn

Source: The Australian - December 9, 2006

When the morning flight from Adelaide to Perth arrived on Wednesday the seat reserved for Damien Martyn was empty. That surprised no one.

Private to the point of being reclusive, Martyn would have known that Perth airport was stocked with cameras eager to shoot the out-of-form batsman who was struggling to hold his place for his home Test.

Not for the first time, he disappeared. Martyn has always been his own man and something of a mystery.

When under siege he takes refuge from a hostile outside world and it can be weeks before his best mates, including Adam Gilchrist, can find him.

Even teammates who have played with Martyn for a decade struggle to know the real man.

"Don't rattle his cage and he won't rattle yours," was the comment of one Australian official.

Articulate, opinionated and intelligent, and good company when he chooses to mix, Martyn is an unusual character.

His jaunty walk -- you could call it a swagger -- and his general demeanour radiate confidence but it is really a cloak for insecurity.

Unlike Glenn McGrath, who gets motivated by criticism, Martyn finds it offensive, which is part of the reason he has retired.

It disturbed him to go to the hotel door and pick up a paper which reported that his future was under threat. It was killing his passion for the game.

Captain Ricky Ponting, who considers Martyn his best mate in the team, knew all this and tried to lift his self-esteem in the way that Steve Waugh lifted Matthew Hayden's and Justin Langer's.

He tried to show Martyn that no matter what anyone thought of him he had the captain's total faith.

But it wasn't enough. Martyn's teammates were stunned by his decision yesterday.

"He just couldn't face the scrutiny one more time -- it really gets to him," one player said.

Like Michael Clarke, Steve Waugh and Craig McDermott, Martyn, who was an Australian under-19 captain, had the awkward experience of being a glamorous junior player who grew up in the public eye.

He went through various stages as a player and person.

There were times when his lifestyle was likened to that of a rock star when he was a cocky man about Perth.

But after losing his Test place for five years in 1994 he found out that many of the good-time Charlies surrounding him were not really mates at all.

So he became so private that teammates dubbed him a recluse. When he walked in to corporate functions he often had the look of a man about to sit in a dentist's chair.

His batting also changed from a fearless cavalier in his youth to more studied accumulator.

That Martyn never had a setback until he reached international level made it doubly hard for him to cope when they arrived.

But he had some great moments. The peak of his career came in two years when he dominated India and Sri Lanka on their soil.

He was a beautiful batsman to watch and did a fine job for his country. He will be missed.