A tribute to Martin Johnson
Mon 15 Mar 2021
Leicestershire County Cricket Club are saddened to hear of the passing of former Leicester Mercury cricket writer, Martin Johnson.
Two tribute stories have been detailed below.
Martin Johnson had a close relationship with the Leicestershire players during his stint on the Leicester Mercury.
He stayed in the same hotels for away matches and spent most of the summer with them.
On one occasion - at Oxford in 1977 - he fielded for the afternoon session when some of the County players were hit by flu.
That led to him being awarded a County cap by skipper Ray Illingworth.
Jonathan Agnew, the former County and England pace bowler who is now the BBC's cricket correspondent, began his career with Martin watching from the Press Box.
He said: "Martin was a brilliant writer who would not fail to make you laugh, as long as he was writing about somebody else.
"He was also a great friend to all the players and massively respected by the cricketers and rugby players alike.
"He was probably best known for his line in Australia in 1986-87 - 'There are only three things England can't do very well - they can't bat, they can't bowl and they can't field'. They went on to win the series!"
Ex-County and England left-arm spinner Nick Cook said: "Martin Johnson is one of the very few who could be critical but you never took offence.
"I think it was simpler days back then. He stayed in hotels with us, he drank with us and he had a relationship with us.
Because he was funny - with pen in hand or pint in hand - you could accept it. There was never malice in what he said. That was his beauty, his strength.
"That is why he could write like he did and get away with it.
"It was the same when he went to national level. I think international players were sceptical of the press and I believe that, with a few exceptions, the relationship with the press started to go downhill in the early '80s. But Martin could get away with it with the England players.
"He was a really funny man. He could give out a bit of stick and he could take it as well."
Club President Jack Birkenshaw was an all-rounder for County and England when Martin worked for the Mercury.
He said: "Martin loved the game and found a story in every day's play.
"He played in few testimonial games - he wasn't a great cricketer but he was a good golfer.
"He always found something amusing to write about.
"In one Sunday League game, Illy [Ray Illingworth] threw me the ball and said: 'I think we've had it'.
"But the opposition batting fell apart and Martin wrote about how inspirational it was of Illy to make that wonderful decision."
Jack is probably being over modest about that game against Kent in 1977.
The visitors needed 15 to win off six overs with six wickets left when Jack spun Leicestershire to a two-run win by taking four wickets in three overs
Jack added: "He was just such an amusing kind of guy. He had a brilliant dry wit.
"We all loved him, we all read his articles and we carried on reading them when he went on to The Independent and Telegraph."
One of County's stand-out supporters in those days was Chris Wright, who had a booming voice.
At times Chris used his powerful vocal chords to let everyone on the ground hear his opinions.
Jack recalled: "One day he shouted out 'Put Birky on' and it became almost embarrassing for Illy because he was just about to put me on anyway and it looked like he was calling the shots and not Illy."
Martin nicknamed Chris "Foghorn" and he appeared frequently in his reports.
Jack added: "Martin was a member of the team, he was our 13th man and he did indeed field for us one day.
"When we did well, he wrote good things about us. If we played poorly, he wrote critical things but in an amusing way and it upset nobody."
Former Leicester Mercury cricket writer Martin Johnson has died aged 71.
Martin covered the fortunes of Leicestershire through the club's golden era in the 1970s.
As well as charting County's successes, including their first Championship title in 1975, he achieved a huge following for his wonderfully entertaining writing style.
Martin believed that everything should be fun - and that shone through in his writing.
He gave his readers the basics of what happened in the day's play.
But his reports were also full of lines that provided mirth.
If the bowlers got it wrong, Martin wrote about buffet bowling - the batsmen could help themselves.
One day County took the new ball without success.
Martin - or Scoop as he was known by the players - wrote that they might as well have fetched a Scotch egg out of The Meet.
The beauty of Martin's style was that he and his readers laughed with the players he wrote about not at them.
Martin, who also covered Leicester Tigers for the Mercury, went on to write for The Independent, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times.
He and legendary motor sport commentator Murray Walker died on the same day.
Whenever you think about either of them, you find yourself smiling and chuckling.
And, believe it or not, Martin was even funnier to talk to than he was to read.
He was a brilliant story-teller and could make the most mundane event sound hilarious.
Tim Murray
