KEY POINTS:
He might be fast approaching 33 but Black Caps paceman Chris Martin is quietly confident of doing well in South Africa and hopeful that he could one day end up fourth on New Zealand's list of top test wicket-takers.
It's important to say at the outset that this
is all said with Martin's trademark self-effacedness as what appears in print can sometimes carry a different tone to the verbal delivery. Martin is not a chest-thumper and a talker-upper.
He has some reason for confidence - his record against South Africa (where the Blacks Caps begin a three-test tour this week) is good.
Not only has he five times claimed the scalp of South African batsman Jacques Kallis - one of the world's premier batsmen; ninth on the all-time scoring list - but he has claimed most of his seven five-wicket bags against them and has a bowling average against South Africa considerably lower than his overall average.
"I think the first time I played them, it was a case of me realising that I could play at that level," says Martin.
"The next time I played them, I had been out of the game pretty much for two years and I had a point to prove."
'Out of the game' is a euphemism for the problem Martin has had getting into the New Zealand one day international team - his batting deemed not good enough by coach John Bracewell. That, and the fact New Zealand's recent cricket calendar has been dominated by the one day game and not tests, means Martin drops out of sight for long periods sometimes.
Which makes it all the more remarkable that, in his typically unobtrusive way, Martin has risen slowly up New Zealand's list of record test wicket-takers and stands at ninth, just a few wickets behind Bruce Taylor and Richard Collinge and a not-out-of-sight 17 wickets away from Ewen Chatfield.
"I guess I do fly a little bit under the radar as far as my profile goes," says Martin, "and that suits me.
"But if you are effectively only playing one form of the game then people do tend to wonder where you have been."
The tour of South Africa should offer more opportunities for Martin. For a start, key quick Shane Bond is along for the trip this time and, if he is not taking wickets himself, Bond can set up chances at the other end. Martin also says the word from the Republic is that the pitches on the high veldt are likely to be fast and bouncy, suiting the South African batting style but also giving Bond and Martin hope.
However, this time Martin will find Kallis in imposing form - he was named player of the series he helped South African wrap up the two-test series against Pakistan with prolific scores of 155, 100 not out, 59 and 107 for an aggregate of 421 runs.
Martin says he is motivated by statistics - as some top cricketers, notably Sir Richard Hadlee, were - and even at almost 33 he is positive about extending his test future.
"I'm pretty fit and the body is hanging together, although it's hard work, and I didn't start my career until about 23 so I don't have the 'back end' that generally affects people of my age about now if they started at 19 or 20.
"If I can keep performing, I'd like to think I can play another 20 tests or so and, with all the test matches coming up in the next two years, I'd also like to think that I might be able to catch Danny Morrison - that's a good goal for me."
Morrison is one of the bowlers Martin looked up to and he counts Glenn McGrath as an example of a player who soldiered on in test cricket well into his mid-30s.
"I reckon I have at least a couple more years of international cricket in me and McGrath was one of those guys who showed they could get through it physically, enjoy it and take wickets."
With 160 test wickets, Morrison is 54 ahead but 20 test matches would afford ample opportunity for Martin.
With typical common sense, he adds: "That's what I am looking at but, of course, I say all that knowing that I might one day get a tap on the shoulder and be told that it's time to go. That can happen any time and it's up to me to do well enough to stay in the picture."
He laughs when asked if he'd like to set another goal - to get out of the tiny cricketing club of players who have taken over 100 test wickets and have more wickets than test runs.
Pakistani legspinner Danesh Kaneria escaped that club last year - leaving Martin, long-retired Indian spinner BS Chandrasekhar (167 runs, 242 wickets) and former Australian quick bowler Bruce Reid (93 runs, 103 wickets). Martin has 106 wickets but only 52 runs, has never broken double figures and is partially famous for his 17 test ducks. He has also equalled the dubious New Zealand record of Morrison and Murphy Sua who, like Martin, once racked up four consecutive test ducks.
"I think I am well overdue to give people more to celebrate when they watch me batting than just wondering how long or whether I will survive," he says.
"So I will be looking for more runs. It would be good to get out of that company and to get rid of that ironic cheer I always get whenever I manage to hit one. It'd be good to get that average higher."