Martyn Under More Stress

The Age

Thursday October 6, 2005

By CHLOE SALTAU

AT FIRST the Ashes fog appeared to have lifted for Australia's batsmen when they took on the World at a thinly attended Telstra Dome last night, but it could engulf the international career of Test discard Damien Martyn altogether if he cannot pull quickly himself out of his rut.

Martyn played the shot of a man with the weight of a disastrous England campaign and subsequent Test axing on his mind as Australia strained to reach 8-255 from 50 overs in the first of three one-day internationals against the ICC World XI.

Australia started well with the ball, taking five wickets and the scalps of world-class batsmen Brian Lara, 0, Rahul Dravid, 4, and Kevin Pietersen, 2.

New Zealand's subtle left-arm spinner, Daniel Vettori, carved his way through the Australian batting order. Martyn, undone by another, more famous spinner in Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralidaran, finished with a duck, lasting only five minutes and three deliveries trying to hit Muralidaran over the top.

Without a big score in the remaining two matches tomorrow and Sunday, he could be eased out of calculations for Australia's 2007 World Cup campaign almost as suddenly as he was culled from the Test side.

The presence of Simon Katich making a bright start at the top of the innings, in the position filled for years by another form casualty in Matthew Hayden, served as a poignant reminder of how quickly times are changing in Australian cricket with the winter's failures and future challenges in mind.

In the first match of a Super Series that intriguingly pits the No. 1 cricketing nation against the best the rest of the world can offer - in this case captained by South Africa's Shaun Pollock and with a bowling crew that included Shoaib Akhtar, Andrew Flintoff, Muralidaran and Vettori - Katich was Australia's top scorer with a clean 58 from 78 balls.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet beneath the roof at Telstra Dome, where a midweek crowd trickled in and the response to Adam Gilchrist's merry opening assault was muted.

Gilchrist, another seeking to redeem himself after a substandard Ashes series, followed through on his promise to return to his instinctive, free-hitting ways and began with a flourish of pull-shots.

His crisp strokeplay off the back foot at opening bowlers Shoaib and Pollock carried Australia to 80 before he was bowled by Jacques Kallis between bat and pad, having crunched seven fours. Before then Katich had been caught off a Flintoff no-ball and triggered the first use of video technology for a caught behind verdict.

Katich was on 26 when Flintoff, who tormented him in Manchester the month before last, got a ball to lift and fly dangerously close to his bat.

Umpire Simon Taufel, making use of the technology that is being trialled for all decisions, asked for video evidence, which was unhelpful and Katich survived.

The Australian middle order could not take up where Gilchrist and Katich left off, for after Martyn's departure captain Ricky Ponting played a brisk innings and was caught by Lara for 23 (from 27 balls) and Katich, caught and bowled by Muralidaran, soon followed.

Andrew Symonds continued his destructive form from Australia's last one-day tournaments in England and steadied the middle of the innings with 36, including a thunderous six off Muralidaran.

Mike Hussey and Shane Watson each chimed in to push the home team towards a respectable total, but all the while Vettori held the upper hand. His 10 overs produced four wickets and yielded only 33 runs, and when he had Hussey caught by Pietersen for 32 Australia was 8-231.

Australia, or more specifically Brett Lee, was not done yet, for the fast bowler showed he had not lost the stomach for his great rivalry with Flintoff, and took the Lancastrian on to cream 22 from 17 balls. Lee did not spare Shoaib, either, and hit the Pakistani speedster for a searing straight six.

Australia chose debutant Cameron White as its "super sub", and after Ponting won the toss and batted, Victoria's leg-spinning allrounder was compelled to sit out the Australian innings despite the fact his batting is arguably his greatest asset.

The World IX, meantime, subbed Shahid Afridi in to bat for Muralidaran after the Sri Lankan had sent down 10 overs and taken a tidy 2-41.

In response to Australia's total of 255, the World was 5-85 from 23 overs after Glenn McGrath snaffled Indian opener Virender Sehwag, caught by Hussey for six.

McGrath later added World No. 3 Kallis to his tally when he had the South African out lbw with a wonderful delivery for eight. That brought the former West Indies captain, Lara, to the middle.

AUSTRALIA R B

A Gilchrist b Kallis 45 48

S Katich c and b Muralidaran 58 78

R Ponting c Lara b Pollock 23 26

D Martyn c Vettori b Muralidaran 0 3

A Symonds c Flintoff b Vettori 36 54

M Clarke c and b Vettori 6 6

M Hussey c Pietersen b Vettori 32 44

S Watson c Lara b Vettori 8 15

B Lee not out 26 17

N Bracken not out 2 3

Sundries (2b, 6lb, 6w, 5nb) 19

TOTAL (for eight wickets) 255

FALL: 80, 128, 128, 142, 154, 206, 223, 231.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 9-1-49-0 (3nb, 1w), S Pollock 8-1-32-1, A Flintoff 9-1-66-0 (1nb, 3w), J Kallis 4-0-26-1 (1nb, 1w), M Muralidaran 10-0-41-2 (1w), D Vettori 10-1-33-4.

BATTING TIME: 229 minutes. OVERS: 50.

WORLD XI R B

K Sangakkara not out 59 78

V Sehwag c Hussey b McGrath 6 10

J Kallis lbw b McGrath 8 23

B Lara c Symonds b Bracken 0 2

R Dravid c Ponting b Lee 4 14

K Pietersen lbw b Watson 2 6

A Flintoff not out 2 6

Sundries (3w, 1nb) 4

TOTAL (for five wickets) 85

FALL: 18, 45, 50, 75, 82.