5 great players who never featured in a World Cup match and why

#4 Chris Martin

Chris Martin

Chris Martin played Test Cricket for New Zealand from 2000 to 2013. In those thirteen years, he was a constant as New Zealand tried a variety of pacers to find the right combination. Some changes were voluntary, some were forced down their throat due to unfortunate injuries.

It seemed Chris Martin was born to play second fiddle to the sensational Shane Bond. Martin could shore-up one end with clinical accuracy whilst Bond went on a rampage from the other. This would be the Kiwis' combination only in about 15 Tests that the pair played together.

By the end of his Test career aged 38, he was the island country's third-highest wicket-taker with 233 scalps but has now been surpassed by Trent Boult (246) and Tim Southee (244).

Analysis of ODI Career: Despite having a stellar Test career, he never featured in the Black Caps' plan for the shorter forms of the game and garnered only 20 sporadic appearances in ODIs spread over 7 years. Having made his debut in January 2001 against Zimbabwe, he garnered 18 wickets and played his last ODI against England in February 2008. Another aspect of Martin's career his comical inability with the bat. This would ultimately cost him a regular place in the ODI and T20I sides. He holds the dubious honour of having taken more wickets than runs scored (123), a record he shares with India's BS Chandrashekhar.

Why he missed out on a World Cup match: When Martin made his debut, New Zealand had fine all-rounders in abundance with the likes of Chris Harris, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan featuring regularly. Later, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram took over the mantle. For someone with almost no ability with the bat, it was always going to be difficult for Chris Martin to force his way into the ODI side. Being a line and length bowler, he would ostensibly become predictable in the death overs and this may well have resulted in him not playing a World Cup game.The closest he came to playing for New Zealand in a World Cup was when he was named a replacement player for Darryl Tuffey in the 2007 edition. Unfortunately, he couldn't get a game.