Died after a long illness on 13th March 2021, aged 71. At school, Martin seems to have ‘set his own pace’, but it was sufficient for him to attain an A Level in English and launch a very successful career in sports journalism. Dismissing family pleas for him to go to university, Martin signed up for a shorthand course in Chester to learn an obligatory skill that would win him a lowly post at the South Wales Argus. Despite being handed boring assignments, such as covering council meetings, he developed the ability to make his accounts lively, and attracted the attention of The Mercury, Leicester. Here he spent 11 years writing a popular and occasionally controversial column on Leicestershire cricket. He moved on, first to The Independent and later to The Telegraph, covering such prestigious events as Wimbledon, The Masters and global Test series. His first tour was to Australia, in 1986, when he famously wrote of England, “They can’t bat, they can’t bowl, and they can’t field.” When England went on to win the Ashes, nonplussed he wrote, “Right quote, wrong team.” He was held in great affection and high esteem by his peers and popular with all who knew him.
