The sporting world is full of extraordinary stories. A former England football international has been pursuing cricket for some time now, and now wants to make a mark in the sport by representing England’s Over-60s side.
Meet former goalkeeper Nigel Martyn. He has played 23 games for the national football team from 1992-2002. He retired in 2006 from all types of competitive football.
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Martyn has been a cricket fan since childhood, but he chose football as a career. He was a goalkeeper. In a career spanning 20 years, he represented teams like Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Leeds and Everton and made 666 league appearances in all.
But a few years later, after his retirement, he got back to cricket, and now he is on the verge of getting selected for England’s Over-60s side.
“It’s pretty special,” Martyn told BBC Sport.
“Obviously, as a professional goalkeeper, I wasn’t allowed to play cricket in the summer, as it would threaten breaking fingers and things like that.
“I retired with a stress fracture on my ankle, so I didn’t think I was able to play cricket again. But I got the all-clear to do it in about 2011, so I started playing again,” he added.
Martyn is almost there!
Martyn has made it to the second tier of England’s Over-60s side. He is 59 at present, and in August later this year, he will turn 60 and become eligible to represent the main side. He shares his experience of playing with the B team.
“The batting and bowling standard is really, really high,” Martyn said.
“The fielding is the one area where it gets more difficult, but there are still blokes in their 60s diving around stopping the ball, sprinting after it and throwing it in, it’s quite incredible to watch really.
“I just love playing. If you’re going to play into your 60s and 70s, you’ve got to love it. I love the camaraderie that you get,” he added.
The Cricket World Cup for Over 60s starts a few days before he turns 60 and becomes eligible to represent the main team. But Martyn, who was part of the England football World Cup squads in 1998 and 2002 without getting games, is not disheartened. If not this one, maybe the next one for the wicketkeeper. “That would be great.
“I trained with the two wicketkeepers picked for the World Cup, and they are both excellent, so the competition [for places] does drive you on to push the people ahead of you.
“They’re in spot at the moment, and I’ll just keep doing my thing,” he said.