Martin Love

Australia|Top order Batter
Martin Love
INTL CAREER: 2002 - 2003
Browse other players
New Zealand
All

Alphabetically sorted top ten of players who have played the most matches across formats in the last 12 months

Full Name

Martin Lloyd Love

Born

March 30, 1974, Mundubbera, Queensland

Age

49y 355d

Nicknames

Orm

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Playing Role

Top order Batter

Height

1.83 m

Education

Mundubbera State; Mundubbera High; Toowoomba Grammar

Between his first-class debut for Queensland in the 1992-93 Sheffield Shield final at the age of 18 and retiring after the 2008-09 decider, Martin Love was the man for the big occasion and the lame pun. An upright, stately batsman with the mindset to bat for long periods, Love made a searing 146 when Queensland finally won their first Sheffield Shield - after 68 barren years - in 1994-95. Five seasons later he posted another century in the final, a six-hour 100 which secured a draw and with it the Pura Cup. Another two hundreds came in the deciders of 2004-05 and 2005-06, when he peeled off 169 to set up an easy win, to set a new national mark. In 2002 he scored 251 for Durham - a county record - and improved on that with 273 in 2003 before becoming the first Queenslander to reach a triple-century with 300 not out against Victoria in 2003-04. He stepped down with an unbeaten 104 in the drawn Shield final of 2008-09, watching the prize go to the Bushrangers.

Love pushed himself to the front of the cab-rank for Australian selection with not one but two effortless double-centuries against the touring English team in 2002-03; when he made his debut in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, he did so with a first-class average the right side of 50. He instantly looked at home, with a cultured 62 not out, but picked up a duck at Sydney. Another zero - first ball this time - against Bangladesh put his place in jeopardy, and despite a maiden century in the second Test at Cairns, Love lost his place when Damien Martyn returned from injury. Back in Queensland he continued his prolific ways until struck by finger problems in 2004-05 and 2005-06 that restricted his output and threatened his career. Both times he recovered in style only to experience more problems with his body and limped away aged 34.

In 2006-07 he passed 10,000 first-class runs for the state and Stuart Law's mark for the most runs by a Queenslander, but was forced to have a knee reconstruction. A qualified physiotherapist, Love needed his own rehabilitative talents in a difficult recovery. The injury continued to hamper him as his career wound down and he missed the final game in 2007-08 due to Bell's Palsy, a paralysing face condition. He continued for another season, leading the state's run-scoring with 842 in the Sheffield Shield, including a farewell 219 not out at the Gabba.
Cricinfo staff

Martin Love Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests583233100*46.6047648.941117070
FC2143743416952300*49.85--4578--2680
List A155151154545127*33.41--521--680
T20s6601665327.66120138.330221220

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests5------------
FC214-301111/5-11.002.2030.0-00
List A155-1270---3.50-000
T20s6------------
Martin Love raises his bat on completion of a hundred

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Recent Matches of Martin Love

MatchBatDateGroundFormat
Queensland vs Victoria41 & 104*13-Mar-2009MelbourneFC
Queensland vs Victoria23 & 7705-Mar-2009MelbourneFC
Queensland vs NSW219*26-Feb-2009BrisbaneFC
Queensland vs South Aust4 & 1613-Feb-2009AdelaideFC
Queensland vs West Aust96 & 030-Jan-2009BrisbaneFC

Photos of Martin Love

Martin Love, Ashley Noffke and Daniel Doran during the launch of the Sheffield Shield
Martin Love gets under a bouncer
Martin Love sways out of harm's way
Martin Love's 106 was the highlight of Queensland's first innings
Brendan Nash congratulates Martin Love on his century
Martin Love raises his bat on completion of a hundred