Domiciled in Australia for many years Herbie made frequent visits home and kept in regular contact with his former sporting colleagues, not least his Wallace Park contemporaries. He loved sport and was an accomplished all-rounder in virtually every discipline he tried. An Ulster Schools hockey player, he also played rugby at Number 8 for Instonians and Ulster, but it was cricket where he really excelled.
Born in 1927 Herbie was the younger brother of the great Tommy Martin who died long before his time and prime. Herbie first appeared in the Lisburn Youth teams in late 1930s and despite the difficult war years he emerged as one of the club’s finest batsmen in the post-war era. He was very focused, and built his game around a solid defence that frustrated many of the top bowlers of his era. He made his Ireland debut in 1949 against Scotland and over the next 17 years he made another 38 appearances. He was a prolific batsman at club level, but like several outstanding players in his day, he never carried his club form to the highest level. Many of his Ireland appearances were against Scotland and his highest score of 88 came against the oul’ enemy at Grange Cricket Club in 1956. Amongst his other highlights was an impressive 61 against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 1959.
Herbie’s performances at club level were a different story and he shone like a beacon in the great Lisburn teams of the 1950s and 1960s, which dominated the NCU Senior League Championship and the Senior Challenge Cup. He captained the club in 1953 and 1954 and played a leading role in bringing a series of trophies back to Wallace Park. His top score in the Senior Cup was 122 against Instonians in the 1962 semi-final after scoring 93no in an earlier round against Woodvale. The previous year he scored 100 against Collegians in the 1st round and 96no against Sion Mills in the quarter-final. Lisburn retained the cup that season after beating Woodvale in the final with Herbie still at the wicket on 56no. It was his second half-century in the match, which placed him in to a small unique group of outstanding NCU batsmen.
Herbie’s sad passing comes shortly after the recent death of another Lisburn icon Tom McCloy, and one of his former Ireland and Lisburn colleagues Raymond Hunter paid him a huge tribute today;
“Herbie was an excellent sportsman good enough to play cricket for Ireland and rugby for Ulster. He could bat for hours and often did, and his contribution in the great Lisburn teams of the 50s and 60s was immense. But what many people did not see was his generosity behind the scenes where he would help struggling players with extra coaching and providing kit for those who didn’t have any. He was a lovely guy and he always kept in touch with his former sporting friends despite living overseas for many years. It is another sad day for Lisburn Cricket Club and the Ulster sporting fraternity in general.”
Our sincere condolences go to his wife Avril and the Martin family, and to the members of Lisburn Cricket club, which has lost another great stalwart of former years.
Rest in Peace.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
