Brief profile of Martin Jean-Jacques by Matthew Reed

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Player:

M Jean-Jacques

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DateLine: 14th November 2005

 

When players who do something record breaking on their debut, the rest of their career can sometimes feel slightly disappointing. Martin Jean-Jacques was a case in point. His 73 on debut from no.11 was even more remarkable considering that it set a new Tenth wicket partnership record of 132 (along with Alan Hill, who finished undefeated on 172) for Derbyshire. Within a couple of hours he had made Geoff Boycott his maiden First-class scalp. A month later his figures of 8-77 (10-25 in the match) were invaluable in Derbyshire beating Kent by 23 runs. Inevitably, such a remarkable start was hard to sustain, and Jean-Jacques would never again score another First-class fifty, and would only take a 5 wicket innings haul once more in his career. Jean-Jacques’s nippy, skiddy bowling for Buckinghamshire had brought him to the attention of Derbyshire, who were suitably impressed to add him to their staff, despite him being the relatively advanced age of 25. However, he was usually picked only after injury or weariness had claimed one of the other seamers, and he was unfortunate that one of his best runs in the side came during the summer of 1990, when bowlers around the country despaired at the easiness with which runs were scored. More than one other county showed an interest in Jean-Jacques when they knew his Derbyshire contract was close to expiration at the end of 1992, although both Hampshire and the player would have hoped for more than his nine First-class wickets in the two seasons he spent on the South Coast. Jean-Jacques was an understudy for most of his career, and so it is too his credit that he still managed to perform credibly despite the stop-start nature of his career inevitably having an effect on his confidence and rhythm.

 

(November 2005)

 

(Article: Copyright © 2005 Matthew Reed)