It is often said that age is just a number and when one sees the journey of New Zealand’s wicket-keeper bat Katey Martin, who is still going strong at 37, there is seldom any doubt that this adage is nothing but true. The Otago-born cricketer has featured in one Test, 103 ODIs and 95 T20Is for the White Ferns in her illustrious international career that began in 2003. She is just one fixture away from completing 200 international appearances.
Martin was last seen in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup that was held in New Zealand and now is all set to feature in the Fairbreak Global Invitational T20 Tournament in Dubai from May 1 to May 15. Though she is still going great guns with both bat and gloves, the 37-year old has already made some plans for the future away from the playing field.
In a chat with Aiden McLaughlin for Lockerroom’s piece, Martin said, “We’ve been going since the start of August, and I’ve only had three or four days off. It’s been pretty full-on, so it’s a matter of having a little bit of a break now and refreshing. After playing in Dubai in 50 degrees heat, I think I’ll know one way or another.”
With regards to the Fairbreak tournament in which she will be seen next, Martin said, “The big thing around FairBreak is giving more exposure to those players from associate nations, the likes of Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and Germany. That was a big thing for me, playing with those associate players and being able to promote the game. It’s going to be an awesome experience for all of us to play with people from different nations. I’m also fortunate that Sophie is on my team, so I don’t have to see her whacking my teammates around the park.”
The Fairbreak tournament will see six teams, including 90 players from 35 countries.
At present, Martin has not explicitly disclosed about what is in store for her in the future after she returns home from Dubai. However, she said, “I’d definitely go into coaching, in terms of one-on-one coaching,” Whether it’s within a team environment is a different story. I’d be more of an assistant; I’d never be a head coach. When I was younger, Rowan Milburn took me under her wing in Dunedin.”
Milburn played a pivotal role in shaping Martin as a cricketer. Milburn played as a wicketkeeper for White Ferns and the Netherlands. While she was still playing for Otago, Milburn started coaching Martin and when the former moved to Canterbury in the 2002/03 season, the latter took on the keeping responsibilities for Otago. Similar to what Milburn did for Martin in the past, Martin would like to follow Milburn’s footsteps and do something similar for the younger kids.
Apart from playing cricket, Martin has been involved in IT consultancy and cricket commentary. Her commentary journey started in late 2020 when the White Ferns toured Australia. She recalled, “I used to get mic’d up because I was a wicketkeeper, and the guys from Channel Seven asked if I’d like to stay on for the upcoming WBBL.”
Thank you 🤍 pic.twitter.com/NU3xgPSTbS
— Katey Martin (@kmarty01) March 25, 2022
Martin shared the commentary space with Mel Jones and Lisa Sthalekar. After that, she was presented with the opportunity to commentate for Spark Sport. Recently, she was a part of the commentary team for the World Cup after New Zealand got eliminated from the tournament.
Reflecting on New Zealand’s journey in the World Cup, the wicket-keeper batter said, “I feel like we put ourselves in really good positions in so many of those games. There were just little moments that we couldn’t get quite right; the South African game with our batting and finishing that game against the West Indies.”
Away from cricket, not many know that Martin holds a degree in commerce from Lincoln University. Prior to signing up for a New Zealand Cricket contract in 2018, she worked full time with Computer Concepts (CCL) in Christchurch. Since 2018, she has been working part-time. She said, “New Zealand Cricket were really supportive of that and at my age, it’s important for that transition out of cricket, whenever that’s going to happen.”
For the last many years, Martin has been living in Christchurch. Despite this, she continues to play for Otago. She played an integral role in Otago Sparks’ victory in this year’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield. She said, “There’s just something about playing for Otago that feels like home. It’s a pretty special place for me and I’ll always cherish that I’ve played for Otago for my whole cricket career.”
Quotes are sourced from the Newsroom
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