Published: January 18, 2026 at 10:15 am
- Damien Martyn was not only a stylish batter, who had a classical technique, but also a fighter to the core. The Australian had not only demonstrated his fighting skills on the field for his team for years but also proved that the ‘never-say-die’ attitude was ingrained in him – it never died out. He literally battled for life during the last days of 2025, and the fighter boxed his way out and woke up to a new life in 2026.
A day after Boxing Day last year, Martyn fell sick and was rushed to hospital. He was placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with Meningitis. Having been described as in a “fight for his life”, Martyn awoke from his coma on January 4, 2026.
On January 17, Martyn posted a message on social media site X celebrating his ‘new birth’ with a picture of him on the beach.
This post is A BIG thank you to ALL my family, friends and so many other people who have reached out to me!
On the 27th of December 2025 my life was taken out of my hands…when meningitis took over my brain, & unbeknownst to me I was placed into a paralysed coma for 8 days to help me fight this awful disease. And that I did! Fight that is!….
After being given a 50/50 chance of surviving, I came out of the induced coma 8 days later…not able to walk or talk. And yet 4 days after that, with the doctors in disbelief, I walked, I talked and proved to them all why I should be released from hospital to start my recovery.
So happy to be home, to be able to put my feet in the sand on the beach and to start thanking all those people that reached out to me and my family in their unwaivering support.
This experience has reminded me of how fragile life is, how quickly everything can change & how precious time is!
There are so many wonderful people in this world … from paramedics (at Mermaid Waters Ambulance), doctors & nurses (at Gold Coast University Hospital) … to family, friends and people I didn’t even know. I feel like I met all these fantastic people in the past 3 weeks, or they reached out to me through messages of love and support.
I am so grateful to you all.
Thank you!
Bring on 2026 …I’m back!
https://x.com/damienmartyn/status/2012405092499214598?s=20
2004 was a watershed year for Martyn
Despite the wealth of talent he possessed, the right-handed bat had to struggle to establish himself in the Australian team. It was only in the early 2000s that he cemented his place in the side and became a regular fixture.
The highlight of his career was the Australian tour to India in 2004. Martyn was the Man of the Series as Australia claimed their first series victory on Indian soil in over 30 years. Martyn scored 444 in eight innings at an average of 55.50. He led the batting charts for both teams and it was quite significant as India had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
The 54-year-old Martyn, who was all of 23 at that time, scored two centuries, two half-centuries and also a duck in those eight innings. His sequence of runs in that series was 3 and 45 in the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru; 26 and 104 in the second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai; 114 and 97 in the third Test at Nagpur; 55 and 0 in the fourth and final Test at the Wankhede in Mumbai.
Dream run in 2004: Damien Martyn narrowly missed out, by a mere three runs, on becoming the first Australian batter since Don Bradman to make three centuries in three innings when he was dismissed for 97 in the second innings of the third Test in Chennai
Martyn missed out on emulating Don Bradman’s record
He narrowly missed out, by a mere three runs, on becoming the first Australian batter since Don Bradman to make three centuries in three innings when he was dismissed for 97 in the second innings of the third Test. Martyn had tamed the likes of legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in that series.
The knock in Chennai (which this writer was fortunate to watch from the media box as this was his first Test as a cub reporter) was worth its weight in gold. Kumble was at his wrecking best and picked up 13 wickets in that game. In the second innings, Martyn and nightwatchman Jason Gillespie (26) had added a crucial 139 runs for the fifth wicket which helped Australia reach 369 and set India a target of 229 but rain washed out play on the fifth day which had promised to be quite an interesting one with both sides having an equal chance of winning it.
Sweeping to glory: Damien Martyn’s domination of spinners like Anil Kumble, Muthiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh on the sub-continent in 2004 speaks volumes of his ability to play spin and the patience he demonstrated. He was willing to battle it out in conditions which were conducive to spinners and come out triumphant
Martyn’s first Test century against India came in Chennai style
Incidentally this was Martyn’s first Test hundred against India and it came under immense pressure. At 96, Martyn, after being tied down by Kumble as he played a couple of dot balls, danced down the track to loft the spinner over the fence and bring up his maiden century against India.
https://youtu.be/ijpGtCr37AE?si=Ly7XP2ISPjGKJQ7y
Six balls later, Martyn finally fell to Harbhajan after making 104. But he had done enough to pull Australia out the dumps and place them in a position of strength.
Prior to coming to India in March 2004, Martyn had scored two crucial centuries on the dusty bowls of Sri Lanka to help Australia complete a 3-0 whitewash. Martyn scored 333 runs, second to Darren Lehman, who made 375, in the series where legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took 28 wickets.
Martyn’s domination of the spinners on the sub-continent speaks volumes of his ability to play spin and the patience he demonstrated. He was willing to battle it out in conditions which were conducive to spinners and come out triumphant.
Twenty-one years later, the fighting spirit is still intact. Martyn overcome the crippling disease which almost cost him his life and looks forward to a second innings of life.
