CricketViewer.com

Damien Martyn, the former Australia batsman, has signed for the breakaway Indian Cricket League, according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper on Sunday.

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, an agreement was struck on Friday between the ICL bosses and Martyn who, the newspaper claims, is excited about playing alongside Brian Lara who was the first international to sign up with the league.

“It’s a chance just too good to miss,'’ he told the Daily Telegraph. It’s a chance also to play in a team captained by Warnie.'’

Neither Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath - who, like Martyn, have retired from international cricket - have fully nailed their colours to ICL’s mast, though rumours continue to fly that both will sign up in the near future.

Martyn shocked Australia last December when he retired from all forms of cricket in the middle of the Ashes. After four weeks of silence, he finally revealed his 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.”

Source:Cricket News