The years pile up in the Australian team
Mass exodus on the cards, says Martyn
Cricinfo staff
February 26, 2005
Damien Martyn: sees the end coming
Damien Martyn has admitted that the current Australian team, in which half the players are more than 30 yearsold, will reach a critical stage after the 2007 World Cup, and that their glory days will come to an end some time soon. Martyn also lamented the exit of Darren Lehmann from the national side.
"I think you'll probably see a mass exodus of the guys after the World Cup from one-day cricket, and rightly so," Martyn told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It would be amazing to play three World Cups and win three. I'm not sure what would happen with the Test team. If the selectors feel they want me to keep playing Test cricket after that, I'd think about [playing]. I'll never hang on until my last dying breath."
Martyn, who is 33, remarked that the sacking of Lehmann from the side is a sign that the Australian team won't always continue its present form, and nor is his position in the side guaranteed. "I see these guys more than Mum and Dad," Martyn said. "I'm on the road ten months a year, we live in each others' pockets, we help the guys who are sad and laugh with the guys who are happy. There are lots of emotions. I class us as one big family. One of the big reasons we're No. 1 is because we handle that so well.
"So when someone goes out of that, and Boof [Lehmann] was a big part of what we've been, you just feel sad about that. It's inevitable we're all going to finish up. It's like one of your great mates is gone, and if he doesn't play [for Australia] again, you're never going to play with him again."
Martyn also mentioned that his team-mates Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist and himself have worked hard to reach their current position. "We feel we've worked so hard to get here and we're on top of our games physically but, more importantly, mentally. A lot of us had to wait a long time to get back in the side. Sometimes you feel like there's an attitude of 'get rid of them now'. We feel that we've worked so hard to be No. 1, so why would you change it if it's going so well?"
With the Ashes coming up this year, Martyn revealed that Australia would be seeking revenge over England for their defeat in the Champions Trophy last year. Martyn also believes that having a veteran team for the 2007 World Cup will prove beneficial to them. "I think you need that," he said. "If you had a one-day side of 21-year-olds, you wouldn't win anything. Teams are passionate to beat us. It was like the ICC Trophy, [when] England really wanted to knock us off and they did in that tournament.
"For us, that hurts a lot. When this [tour of New Zealand] is over, the Ashes tour is a massive challenge for the whole group. There's a lot of pride at stake. It was hard to take when we lost that game [to England] ... especially for the guys who know this will be their last Ashes tour."
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