Cricket: Rookie will go in guns blazing

BLOEMFONTEIN - It would not be a complete surprise if Chris Martin's first ball in test cricket was interrupted by a frantic scorer yelling out for the bowler's name.

The most inexperienced member of an inexperienced New Zealand bowling attack is not that well known in his own country, let alone in South Africa, where he will tonight pit a career comprising just 21 first-class games against some of the best batsmen in world cricket.

The 25-year-old Cantabrian was the third pick in a shortlist of three to be sent as reinforcements on this injury-plagued tour, eventually receiving his chance after the initial choice - Andrew Penn - broke down before he had left.

A tourist with New Zealand A to England over the winter months, Martin struggled to impress on the slower pitches, returning just five wickets at 64.20 - hardly ideal credentials on which to be selected for test cricket.

However, since arriving in South Africa at the end of the one-day series, he has opened some eyes with the pace he has generated, looking especially useful against Boland in the first tour game, and showing more encouraging signs in the second warm-up match against North-West.

On the hard and fast South African pitches, he has been consistently hitting Adam Parore's reverse-cupped gloves with more than a respectable amount of pace, and had the satisfaction of seeing some of the North-West batsmen backing away to square leg after being surprised by his shorter ball.

"There's more heat in the pitches over here and a better chance to intimidate the batsmen," he said yesterday. "It makes a real difference if you can see the ball hitting the keeper's gloves hard. It makes you confident that you can bowl fast."

A bowler who gets fairly square-on in his delivery stride, Martin has modified his approach slightly to preserve his fitness and to give him more momentum through the crease, which in turn has enabled him to generate more pace.

He appears unperturbed by the prospect of bowling to such accomplished batsmen as Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis and Darryl Cullinan, although he is not exactly the type who wears his heart on his sleeve.

In fact, if Martin had not decided to seek his fortune on the cricket trail, there is a fair chance he would have made a decent living at poker.

Lean, at a little under 1.83cm tall, he has dispensed with the pony-tail that set him apart from his team-mates, and now relies on his bowling to do all his talking.

"I think I'm quite tough inwardly," he said. "I don't tend to give too much away to the players or the batsman because I never want them to know what's going through my head. It helps to keep me calm and keeps them wondering."

As for the test match, he said there was no point in looking at anything other than the positives, and that he was eagerly awaiting the chance to have a crack at South Africa's finest.

"I don't want to go into this match with any negative thoughts," he said. "That would just put me in a position of doubt.

"I need to be confident, especially against the likes of South Africa, who will be in your face from the start."