KEY POINTS:
Chris Martin's international career comprises two distinct compartments - an impressive test portfolio dominating a notably slim collection of one-day appearances.
But he's hoping to get some more balance into that as his career heads towards its latter years.
First, consider the test facts.
Only seven New Zealanders
have taken more test wickets than the tall, lean 33-year-old; only four have taken five or more wickets in an innings more often. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he will be at the least up to fifth on that list by the time he's finished, probably higher.
Now check his ODI card. His first game was in 2000-01 against Zimbabwe - the same season he made his test debut in South Africa - and he's mustered up a mere 11.
Since his first ODI game, New Zealand had played 170 before yesterday. No wonder Martin has had his Stan Laurel moments of scratching his head and wondering what was up.
And he'd have had another yesterday morning when he discovered that he was unwanted for the Chappell Hadlee Trophy decider in Hobart.
He was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers in the opening in Adelaide, didn't get a chance in the Sydney washout last weekend and was dumped for yesterday's game in a move which simply didn't add up.
"Obviously it is frustrating because I knew at international level I could get people out and bowl well," Martin said of his initial difficulties getting selected for the 50-over side.
"But perhaps I wasn't quite putting it together in the one-day game at home domestically."
A fair enough point, allied to the point that he struggles to buy a run as a permanent No 11 batsman.
Last season he was part of the Auckland team who won the State Shield one day title, Martin grabbing three for seven in eight overs as Otago were cleaned out in the final.
When he arrived in Perth for the Australian leg of New Zealand's tour, far from resigning himself to a couple of weeks of having his feet up, Martin had a positive philosophy.
"Absolutely I thought I would play, and that's the only way to deal with it. As I experienced at the World Cup, if I'd resigned myself to the fact I wasn't going to play it would have been a long, frustrating tour.
"The World Cup experience [when he sat in the grandstand for New Zealand's 10 games over 40 days in the most boring sports tournament of the year] showed me I was making inroads without actually playing.
"So when I got here, a lot of work I'd done over the last six months on my one-day game has helped me get in the side."
Martin said he'd watched other players who were regularly in and out of the ODI side and wondered how they kept their heads "in the right space". "It's quite a hard skill to do. But the older and more mature I get, the easier and quicker I adapt."
Martin was sharp and incisive. He got Adam Gilchrist caught behind early, only to discover he'd overstepped the front line. He got him eventually, but not before the lefthander had another half century.
Ricky Ponting took to him late in the game, after a rain break, but Martin had proved a point.
He's also New Zealand's second-quickest bowler, capable of reaching 147km/h, behind only the injured Shane Bond.
Martin possesses a nice line in self-deprecation. Told he appeared to have filled out since his early years in the national side, Martin put it down to "wearing a smaller shirt".
"When I started I was about 73kg. Now I'm about 85kg. It's just to be stronger, fitter and healthier and more professional, and it means I can bowl a little harder for a little longer."
That extra strength means he can keep his pace up, and retain his action, rather than have it fray long into the day.
"Most guys who play international cricket are strong-looking people. There's not too many skinny, limp-wristed boys like me."
And Martin keeps an eye on the speed gun radar "because I do have an ego being a fast bowler" and he knows what speed he can reach.
Around the early-mid 140s is his mark. It's not Brett Lee slippery, but it's pretty handy. Martin appeals as a relaxed bloke who wouldn't let the vagaries of selection unduly bother him. But perhaps appearances are deceptive.
"I feel part of the whole unit, rather than part of just the test side," he said. "A lot of the guys have more of a kinship, a group feeling, in both forms of the game and I've always felt a little bit left out, so to be involved with both tours [tests in South Africa, ODIs in South Africa and Australia] is quite huge."
And despite yesterday's decision, Martin revealed a strong motivation to make up for lost time in the ODI game.
"I still have a bit to prove at that level, to prove that in the last few years I could have got a go. That's more of a personal thing."
For now, it's back to New Zealand and Bangladesh, who start their three ODI series at Eden Park on Boxing Day. Martin wants to be there, and back home "playing on surfaces that have given people a little bit of love over the years".
