Martin Jean-Jacques (born 2 July 1960) is a

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

n-born English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. During his eight years in first-class cricket, he played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Cricket career

Jean-Jacques was born in

at Soufrière in July 1960, but immigrated to England as a child, where he attended Aylestone High School. He first played county cricket for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

at minor counties level, debuting against

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

in the 1983

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

. It was for Buckinghamshire that he made his debut in List A one-day cricket, against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in the 1984 NatWest Trophy, followed by a second appearance against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in the 1985 NatWest Trophy. Following good performances at minor counties level, Jean-Jacques was signed by

. On his first-class debut against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in the 1986 County Championship, he batted at number eleven and made 73, sharing in a Derbyshire record-partnership for the tenth-wicket of 132 with Alan Hill, a record which remains as of . He also took his maiden first-class wicket in this match, that of Geoff Boycott. Three matches later against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, he took his career best innings bowling figures of 8 for 77 and took match figures of 10 for 125. Jean-Jacques played first-class cricket for Derbyshire until 1992, making 53 appearances, in addition to making forty one-day appearances. He typically found his opportunities at Derbyshire limited by the presence of other fast bowlers in the Derbyshire side, such as

Michael Holding Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering De ...

, Ole Mortensen, and

Devon Malcolm Devon Eugene Malcolm (born 22 February 1963) is a Jamaican-born English former cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team. Malcolm was one of the fastest ...

. His longest run in the side came in 1990, when bowlers across England struggled to take wickets. In first-class cricket for Derbyshire, he took 115 wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 35.57; he took five wickets in an innings on two occasions. With the bat, he scored 587 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 11.28. In one-day cricket for Derbyshire, he took 43 wickets at an average of 33.86, with best figures of 3 for 22. With his contract at Derbyshire ending in 1992, several counties showed an interest in signing him. Hampshire were one such county. They found themselves short of fast bowling options as

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

came toward the end of his career. With only the experienced

Cardigan Connor Cardigan Adolphus Connor (born 24 March 1961) is an Anguillan born former English cricketer. Connor was a right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman and a right-arm Seam bowling, fast-medium bowler. Career Connor left his home island of Anguilla ...

to otherwise lead the attack, Hampshire signed Jean-Jacques. He played first-class and one-day cricket for Hampshire until 1994, making seven first-class and nine one-day appearances. In these, he took nine first-class wickets at an average of exactly 47 and nine one-day wickets at an average of 34.11. During his two-year contract, Jean-Jacques struggled with his rhythm and pace, with his contract not being renewed by Hampshire upon its expiration. Ultimately, a knee injury forced his permanent retirement from the county game. He continued to play

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

for Shepherd's Bush into the late 1990s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean-Jacques, Martin 1960 births Living people People from Saint Mark Parish, Dominica Dominica emigrants to the United Kingdom English cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Hampshire cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen