Ex-England Goalkeeper Returns to Cricket at 59

Some people spend their retirement years on the golf course. Nigel Martyn is training for England's Over-60s cricket team.

Martyn earned 23 caps as England's goalkeeper between the late 1990s and early 2000s, playing in two World Cups. But a childhood passion for cricket never left him, even through nearly two decades guarding the net for clubs like Leeds United and Everton.

Professional football rules banned him from playing cricket during summers. The risk of broken fingers could derail an entire season. When he retired in 2006 with a stress fracture in his ankle, cricket seemed like a closed chapter.

Then doctors gave him the all-clear in 2011. The Cornwall native picked up his wicketkeeping gloves and got back behind the stumps.

Fast forward to 2025, and Martyn just earned selection for England's Over-60s 'Lions' squad after trials at Loughborough University. He made the 800-mile round trip from his Yorkshire home for Cornwall county matches, which caught national selectors' attention.

"It's pretty special," Martyn told BBC Sport. He turns 60 in August, just days after this year's Over-60s Cricket World Cup begins in Canada.

Why This Inspires

Martyn's journey reminds us that the dreams we set aside don't have an expiration date. He got his football break thanks to a tea lady's recommendation to Bristol Rovers in 1987, proving unconventional paths lead to extraordinary places.

Now he's chasing another unlikely goal. The batting and bowling standards at Over-60s level surprised him with their quality. Players in their 60s and 70s still dive for catches and sprint after balls.

His football reflexes transfer beautifully to wicketkeeping. "I've had several thousand things being either thrown or kicked at me in my life," he said. "So I can seem to get my hands pretty much in the right place most of the time."

Martyn sat on the bench at both his World Cups, understudy to legendary keeper David Seaman. He never got on the pitch. A future cricket World Cup appearance would complete unfinished business from his sporting career.

For now, he's pushing the keepers ahead of him in training while enjoying the camaraderie that comes with playing a sport you genuinely love.

Age opened a door that professional obligations once kept closed.