Martin Love

Martin Love

Personal information
Full name	Martin Lloyd Love
Born	(1974-03-30) 30 March 1974 Mundubbera, Queensland, Australia
Nickname	Muscle
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 385)	26 December 2002 v England
Last Test	28 July 2003 v Bangladesh
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992/93–2008/09	Queensland
2001–2003	Durham
2004–2005	Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20 Matches 5 213 155 6 Runs scored 233 16,807 4,545 166 Batting average 46.60 49.57 33.41 27.66 100s/50s 1/1 44/78 5/21 0/2 Top score 100* 300* 127* 53 Balls bowled – 30 12 – Wickets – 1 0 – Bowling average – 11.00 – – 5 wickets in innings – 0 – – 10 wickets in match – 0 – – Best bowling – 1/5 – – Catches/stumpings 7/– 268/– 68/– 0/–
Source: CricketArchive, 19 March 2009

Martin Lloyd Love (born 30 March 1974) is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Test matches from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman.

Early life

Love was educated at Mundubbera State School and Toowoomba Grammar School. He graduated with a degree in physiotheraphy from The University of Queensland in 1997.

Cricket

He made 146 for Queensland in the 1994–95 Sheffield Shield final when the Bulls won their first 'Shield after 68 years in the competition. In 2002 he set a Durham record by making 251. He improved on that with a 273 in 2003.

His Test debut was in the 2002–03 Ashes Series in Australia where he played in the 4th and 5th Tests, making 62*, 6*, 0 and 27. This was followed with a single Test in Barbados (36 & 2) and two Tests against Bangladesh in Australia in 2003 in which he made a duck and 100 not out. Martin Love signed a contract for Warwickshire CCC in October 2006, but injured himself before joining up with the squad and was subsequently replaced by Kumar Sangakkara

On Damien Martyn's return from injury, Love was dropped from the Test squad.

On 24 February, Love announced he would retire at the end of the 2008–09 Australian cricket season to pursue a career in physiotherapy. He posted a sublime 219 not out in his last home match, followed by 104 not out in his last Sheffield Shield innings against Victoria at Junction Oval. This gave Love the rare distinction of scoring an unbeaten century in both his final Test and first class innings.

External links

• Martin Love at ESPNcricinfo