Did text affair come between Martyn and the altar?

Shane Warne, it seems, is not the only Australian cricketer with an unconventional use for his mobile phone. According to a report in the Australian Sun-Herald newspaper, Damien Martyn's fiancee has called off their wedding after discovering that he had received text messages from another woman.

Martyn, 31, was due to marry Helen Appleyard on June 14, but the wedding was cancelled with just eight weeks' notice. Sources within the Australian team suggested that Ms Appleyard first discovered the text messages, then some other evidence of contact with another woman, believed to be a 21-year-old South African. She has been offered sizeable sums of money to reveal her side of the story.

"I've heard rumours that the wedding was called off because of text messages but I have never asked Damien about it," said his manager, Colin Young. "To be honest with you, I think it was because of the age difference between the pair. She is ten years older than him and things wouldn't work out when he wants to have kids. I kept on asking him what he was doing with her and she is a friend of mine. I told him if he wanted to have kids he'd turn around one day and think about the age difference."

Ms Appleyard refused to elaborate on the matter, saying: "This is still all a bit raw, but it is in the past and that's where I want it to stay." But a close friend confirmed that it was the text messages that set it all off. "Helen confronted Damien about it," said the source, "and offered him the opportunity to explain who they were from and what they were about. He didn't offer any excuse. The line that his manager is putting out there is not correct. They were together for three years - do you think that eight weeks out from the wedding Damien would suddenly think he couldn't have kids with Helen?"

Martyn is in South Africa and was unavailable for comment.