Thomas Martin (cricketer)

Thomas Martin (15 January 1911 – 7 December 1937) was an Irish first-class cricketer.

Martin was born in Lisburn in January 1911, where he was educated at Lisburn Intermediate School.[1] (Which is now The Wallace High School) After leaving secondary education, Martin went up to Queen's University Belfast.[1] Playing his club cricket for Lisburn, as one of "Awty's Boys", a group of young cricketers coached by the Staffordshire minor counties cricketer Joe Awty.[1] His move to Belfast saw him play his club cricket for Queen's University.[1] A tall man, standing over six feet tall, Martin used his height to his advantage as a fast-medium bowler, able to extract good bounce and move the ball both ways.[1] His debut for Ireland came in a minor match against Sir J Cahn's XI at Belfast in 1930.[2] His next appearance for Ireland came in July 1934, again in a minor match, this time against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Strabane.[2] Later in August 1934, Martin made his only appearance in first-class cricket for Ireland against the MCC at Dublin.[3] As a bowler, he bowled 18 wicket-less overs in the match, which conceded 49 runs.[4] Batting from the tail, Martin ended Ireland's first-innings unbeaten without scoring, while in their second innings he was dismissed without scoring by Reginald Butterworth.[4] Outside of cricket, Martin was a schoolteacher.[1] However, he was afflicted with tuberculosis and fought a long battle against the illness, succumbing to it in December 1937.[1] His brother, Herbie, was also a first-class cricketer, in addition to playing rugby union.[1]