Wisden overview
The archetypal honest English swing bowler, Martin's trump cards are his accuracy - just a notch below that of Angus Fraser - his movement off the seam, and the extra bounce he generates with his six-foot-five frame and upright action. He's a handy No. 9 or 10 for Lancashire too, and has shone in tight one-day finishes, making effective use of the slash through point. His mastery of line and length won him 20 one-day caps for England, but the high point of a brief international career was the 1995-96 series in South Africa. Martin, who had made three unspectacular appearances that summer against West Indies, was a late replacement for the injured Richard Johnson, but finished top of the Test bowling averages - ahead of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock - and began South Africa's second innings at Port Elizabeth with a spell of 7-7-0-2. But the selectors forgot about him, and he won just two more Test caps. Injury problems didn't help either, but Martin remained one of the most consistent and persistent seamers on the county circuit. Lawrence Booth

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