Martin van Jaarsveld

Martin van Jaarsveld (born 18 June 1974) is a South African cricketer who played nine Tests and eleven One Day Internationals for South Africa between 2002 and 2004. Van Jaarsveld is a specialist middle-order batsman, though he has two wickets in One Day International cricket, including England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick in a match where he bowled five overs for 18 runs, but did not get to bat because of a 153-run partnership between Jacques Kallis and Jacques Rudolph.

He got his international debut following his performances in the 2001–02 season, where he made 1,268 runs at a batting average of 74.58, beginning his international career with the home series against Bangladesh in 2002–03, though in a ten-wicket win at Benoni, he made no contribution with bat or ball. He top-scored in the next match, however, making 42, and also dismissed Talha Jubair with his first ball in international cricket to end the innings. In the two Tests, he made 50 runs in two innings, and was dismissed once, lbw to Tapash Baisya.

However, after scoring three runs against Sri Lanka in the first match of a two-Test series, he was left out as Herschelle Gibbs recovered from a back injury, and only returned for the 2003 NatWest Series. South Africa finished second at the three-team tournament, but van Jaarsveld only passed 20 once, ending with 82 runs at an average of 20.50, and he was left out of the squad to tour Pakistan in 2003–04. He played two Tests in that season, making a maiden Test half-century with 73 against West Indies after Gary Kirsten pulled out, and replacing Neil McKenzie for the final Test in New Zealand, making 59 and 13 not out in a nine-wicket win.