Martin John McCague (born 24 May 1969) is a former professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Eng ...

in three Test matches in 1993 and 1994. McCague was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in Australia where he began his professional career.

Career

His development as a cricketer started in Australia, where he grew up.Cricket: 'I tried my nuts off every day'
'' The Irish Independent'', 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2017-11-20. He played first-class cricket for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

, who due to his Northern Ireland origins were allowed to field both him and an overseas player. His selection for England drew negative comments from some cricket commentators including John Woodcock in view of the fact that he had started his career in Australia. It was not just English fans who disliked this: during the 1994/5 Ashes in Australia, when he hailed a taxi, the Australian driver called him a traitor and refused to take him. He bowled well on debut, taking 4 for 121 in the first innings of the 1993

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is als ...

Test, but enjoyed less success in the next Test as

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingl ...

as Australia ran up 653 for 4 declared and won by an innings, thus retaining

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

. McCague had considerable pace but lacked control. With his experience of first-class cricket in Australia, his selection for England's Ashes tour of 1994/5 was not as surprising as is sometimes suggested. He started the tour well, taking 5 for 31 as England beat

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. But after England lost in the first Test at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, injured and out of favour, he played in no more of the first-class matches or any of the

one-day internationals A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

. In 1994 McCague took 15 for 147 in a championship match against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

, including career best innings figures of 9 for 86, on his way to 57 wickets that season at 19.01. The following year he took 21 wickets in helping

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

to win the Sunday League. He continued to play county cricket for many years albeit intermittently. He played some

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inni ...

in 2005.

Personal life

McCague played one first team game for semi-professional Australian rules football team

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colon ...

in 1990. He has two children and as of 2018 plays for Leeds and Broomfield Cricket Club. According to Steve Marsh's autobiography, McCague consumed 72 pints of Guinness during his stag weekend in Dublin.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCague, Martin 1969 births Living people England Test cricketers Cricketers from County Antrim Kent cricketers Western Australia cricketers Sportspeople from Larne Herefordshire cricketers Irish cricketers