Martyn attacks press after match-winning century

Western Australia 5 for 224 in 47.1 overs (Martyn 110) beat Victoria 222 all out in 47.3 overs (Moss 70, Crosthwaite 52) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

Damien Martyn stroked a wonderful 110 to take Western Australia to a five-wicket victory after some early hiccups against Victoria in their ING Cup match at Perth and then took the opportunity to attack the media for its "unfair" treatment of Australian players. WA finished on 5 for 224 after bowling out Victoria for 222 in just 47.3 overs.

Martyn was dropped from the Australian side after averaging just 19.77 with the bat during the Ashes series and came in for some strong criticism in the press. Martyn insists he hasn't made any changes to his batting since arriving back in Australia: "It's the same as England. No different. Better bowlers in England. When I got 1200 runs in a season people asked what was different, but I was batting exactly the same way. It's just cricket. I had a run out and two bad decisions in the Ashes, so anything could've happened. Guys don't bat differently. The game's not easy."

Martyn said he was still available if the selectors changed his mind, but when asked if Simon Katich's poor form for Australia would open the door for his return, Martyn launched an attack on the media: "I feel sorry for [Katich], I've been there. I feel sorry for what the media do to those players. It's unfair in a way. It's a tough job what they do. They've been fantastic for four or five years doing what they do, so you should give them a break and let them play cricket."

All Western Australia needed were a couple of good partnerships but they got off to a disastrous start after Gerard Denton dismissed Adam Gilchrist in the first over and bowled Justin Langer in the sixth (3 for 27). Damien Martyn then put on 76 runs with Mike Hussey (35) and 112 runs with Adam Voges (48 not out) as Western Australia recovered superbly to shut Victoria out of the game.

Victoria couldn't get a decent partnership going, after Cameron White chose to bat, as they lost regular wickets at one end while Jonathan Moss hit a fluent 70 at the other. Moss smacked ten fours and a six during his 84-ball innings but was beaten by a change of pace from Peter Worthington and hit a full toss straight to Mike Hussey at cover. Adam Crosthwaite hit a plucky 52 and built handy partnerships with Graeme Rummans and Gerard Denton to take Victoria past 200 before Brad Williams, who finished with an impressive 3 for 36, mopped up the tail.