Indian Cricket League

Damien Martyn joins Indian Cricket League

Cricinfo staff

September 1, 2007

Damien Martyn: 'It's a chance just too good to miss' © Getty Images

Damien Martyn has become the first Australian to sign up for the Indian Cricket League, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Martyn also flagged the possibility of playing under Shane Warne's leadership, although Warne has not yet confirmed if he will join the group.

Martyn, who retired from cricket midway through the Ashes series last December, has been linked to the ICL for two weeks but his manager initially said that the league was "not for him". However, Martyn said he had reached agreement with the ICL bosses on Friday and he was excited about playing alongside the league's first international signing, Brian Lara.

"It's a chance just too good to miss,'' Martyn told the paper. "It's a chance also to play in a team captained by Warney." Both Warne and Glenn McGrath initially expressed interest in playing in the ICL but neither has committed.

Martyn shocked Australia with his retirement from all forms of cricket amid a form slump during the Ashes. After four weeks of silence, he finally revealed the reasoning behind his departure and said he had "never been comfortable with the whole celebrity stuff that comes with the game, I found [it] hard to deal with," while adding that he can "now go and live life and enjoy it".

He insisted, however, that the ICL would have minimal impact on his personal life. "It's only six weeks each summer," he said, "which wouldn't have the same burdens of playing for long periods of time away from home."

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