No regrets: Damien Martyn

Damien Martyn, on the verge of making a comeback to the Australian team after a long injury lay-off, has said that he does not regret playing the World Cup final with a broken finger. Martyn's injury was aggravated during that match, leading him to miss out on the tour of West Indies and the Tests against Bangladesh. On the flip side, his unbeaten 88 and his 224-run partnership with Ricky Ponting were instrumental in Australia winning the final.

"Even if I'd known what was going to happen," said Martyn, "I wouldn't change it at all. The World Cup final was the biggest highlight of my life. The frustrating thing is that I didn't think I'd be out for so long, I thought it would be two or three weeks, or a month."

Martyn's finger got worse during that game and ended up looking like an eggshell, with five small fractures. It took him two months after the resultant operation before he could hold a bat, let alone actually play cricket.

"It's been a long slow process of rehab and waiting for the joint to mend," said Martyn. "I'll never have full movement in it and in old age it'll be a bit arthritic. But at the moment I can catch and throw and bat without pain - that's the main thing for me, that I can hold a bat and play. In that sense the finger's good now, I'm just rusty cricket-wise."

Martyn may have missed the opportunity to play in the first Test at Darwin, his birthplace, but he is all set to play in the one-day international series against Bangladesh, which will move to Darwin after games this weekend at Cairns. "It was sad missing the Test match in Darwin," he said "I hate missing Test matches but you have to take the expertise and act on that. I've just got to focus on getting picked this weekend and whatever happens down the track is what happens."

Martyn's one-day slot is not as much of a worry, though, as his Test place. Darren Lehmann made two centuries against Bangladesh and Martin Love made one, which will make it difficult for Martyn to get back into the Test side. Australia next play a Test in October, against Zimbabwe, and Martyn will have hardly any cricket before that to make a case for selection. His decision to play in the World Cup final may have helped Australia win the tournament, but it could have come at a heavy personal cost.