When Chris Martin was selected to play his first Test match for New Zealand, in
Bloemfontein in November 2000, one cricket writer suggested he ”had been plucked from the beach”.
Once wavy-haired, with a reputation for roistering, Martin now has the shorn aspect of a Buddhist monk.
”I can still let go at the appropriate time,” the genial fast bowler said in an interview at Centurion Park this week. ”But I learnt after a few years that I just wasn’t good enough. To perform at a consistent level you’ve got to put that away.”
A late developer — his first-class debut came at the age of 23 and his test debut at 26 — Martin has blossomed into a highly effective opening bowler who has consistently troubled the South African top order.
He has become stronger and quicker over the years. Originally closer to 120km/h, he now regularly clocks over 140 and once hit 147 in New Zealand, although he describes this as ”a flash in the pan”.
With superstar Shane Bond out of the series with an abdominal tear, he reverts to being his country’s spearhead in the Centurion Test which begins on Friday.
”This was always going to be a problem series and losing Shane doesn’t help,” he said. ”But we’re used to it; we’ve won Tests without him.”
Nicknamed ”Tom” (from ”Marto” and then ”Tomato” during his school days, he rather sheepishly explained), Martin has taken 110 Test wickets, one of only nine New Zealand bowlers to achieve a ”ton”.
In eight Tests against the South Africans, he has four times taken five wickets in an innings, with regular scalps including Smith (twice at the Wanderers in the current series, once with a perfect yorker), Jacques Kallis (three times) and Gary Kirsten (twice).
It was Martin who twice demolished the batting to pave the way for New Zealand’s first home victory against South Africa in 72 years, at Eden Park in 2004.
Smith described his bowling in overcast conditions on the second morning, the turning-point of the game, as ”superb”. His figures — 11/180 — earned him a coveted spot in Wisden‘s list of those who have taken 10 wickets in a Test match.
In similar conditions on the first day at the Wanderers, Martin was almost as much of a handful as Bond, swinging the ball sharply and extracting disconcerting bounce.
And unlike his better-known new-ball partner, he does not suffer from the curse of injury-proneness. He bowls long tight spells at good pace: in South Africa’s second innings at the Wanderers, with a soft ball on a dead strip, he conceded just 55 runs in 24 overs.
Martin ascribes his success against South Africa to his heightened intensity in his debut 2000/1 series and after a long lay-off in New Zealand. ”I wanted to impress the selectors,” he said.
But watching him in the nets, it is easy to see why he has prospered here. Lanky (1,92m) and loose-limbed, he has a high arm action ideal for extracting lift and a chest-on delivery stride which favours swing into right-handers and across left-handers.
It is no accident that he has particularly troubled southpaws like Smith, Kirsten and Jacques Rudolph.
On different surfaces, Martin has not fared so well — his lack of success in such arenas as England and Pakistan partly accounts for his relatively low international profile.
Also working against him is his batting — or rather, lack of batting — which has tended to keep him out of the one-day game.
When Dale Steyn bowled him at the Wanderers, his tally of Test ducks rose to 18.
With Indian legspin master Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, he has the dubious distinction of having more Test wickets than runs. ”I don’t know if it’s some kind of block,” he said. ”I just struggle to pick up the first few balls when I’m at the crease.”
Martin’s ambition is to exceed Danny Morrison’s tally of 160 test wickets, putting him third in the New Zealand rankings, behind Chris Cairns and Richard Hadlee.
Given that he turns 33 next month — normally the twilight of a fast bowler’s career — this is a tall order.
But he insists that he remains in good shape, with gym work giving him ”more strength, particularly in the legs, and more of an arse”. He believes he has two more years, and perhaps 20 Test matches, in the tank.