John Martin made his senior cap debut for Wales against Ireland at Cork on the 13th of March 1965. He was one of four debutants in the game alongside: HDV Bebb RP Meeres and TC Angear. At the time John was playing for Hounslow and played centre half for Wales in the game under the captaincy of GT Whiteway. The game was lost 1-0 after Ireland scored the only goal in the first half of the game. John played all of the games in 1965, all were close but not won: beaten by England at the Athletic Ground Penarth 1-0, by Scotland 1-2 at Ruabon and Belgium 0-1 at Pontypool.
John then returned to the Welsh side for the first game in the 1967 series v Ireland at Landbridge Road and played against England, Scotland, Belgium, and Denmark that year, with a 1-1 draw against Belgium being the best result.
In all, John was capped 25 times for Wales between 1965 and 1970. He experienced his first win in Welsh colours against Belgium in 1969 when Wales won by 2-1 in Cardiff; as well as playing regularly against the Home Nations, John also played against South Africa, CSSR, Spain, Poland, USSR, Austria, and Holland. He played in Brussels and Prague as well as many grounds in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Fittingly, his Welsh career ended on 28 August 1970 at College Park Dublin with a 1-0 loss, the same as his debut!
John was also a talented cricketer playing first-class cricket for Somerset and Oxford University, as well as Minor Counties for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He played in the famous game v Gloucestershire when Ron Nicholls and Martin Young put on the record-breaking 395 for the first wicket. His best bowling was against the MCC in 1963 when he took 6-70.
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