Australia cricket legend Damien Martyn in coma after meningitis diagnosis | Cricket | Sport
Former Australian cricketer Damien Martyn has been hospitalised and put into an induced coma following a diagnosis of meningitis. His condition is considered serious after he fell ill on Boxing Day, leading to his admission to a Queensland hospital, where he was diagnosed with the disease that affects the protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord.
Brad Hardie, a former AFL player who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday, said that the 54-year-old “is in for the fight of his life”. The news of Martyn’s illness came as a shock, especially since he had expressed his anticipation for the fourth Test of the Ashes series on social media on Christmas Eve.
Members of the Australian cricket community have rallied around, sending messages of support and prayers for Martyn’s full recovery. Adam Gilchrist, Martyn’s former Test and Western Australia team-mate, issued a statement on behalf of the Martyn family.
“He is getting the best of treatment and [Martyn’s partner] Amanda and his family know that a lot of people are sending their prayers and best wishes,” he said.
Darren Lehmann, another former team-mate, encouraged Martyn to “keep strong” via social media.
Cricket Australia boss, Todd Greenberg, also sent his well wishes, saying: “I’m saddened to hear of Damien’s illness. The best wishes of everyone at CA and in the wider cricket community are with him at this time.”
Martyn made his Test debut at the tender age of 21 in the 1992-93 home series against West Indies and took on the captaincy of Western Australia at just 23. He is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most gifted batsmen, having played 67 Tests and amassed 4,406 Test runs with an average of 46.37 between 1992 and 2006.
He was named player of the series during Australia’s last victorious series in India, where he was the top scorer in four of Australia’s eight innings in the 2004 contest for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Martyn also had a successful ODI career, and his unbeaten 88 in the 2003 World Cup final – despite a broken finger – helped Australia clinch victory over India.
Martyn’s sudden retirement in 2006, during the Ashes series in Australia, where he had been struggling to score runs in the first two Tests, came as a surprise.
At 35, he claimed that the team “needed people who were “more than 100 per cent committed”.
Despite his departure, his reputation within the team remained high. Ricky Ponting remarked at the time: “Damien is one of the world’s most unsung players in both forms of the game and I don’t think it is really understood how good he actually is.
