England's cricketers have paid tribute to Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Times's Chief Cricket Correspondent, who is covering his last Test match in his present role.

The man known throughout the game as “CMJ” was presented with a commemorative bat by Michael Vaughan, the England captain, at McLean Park, Napier, in honour of his remarkable journalistic career, the past nine years of which have been spent at The Times.

On May 1, he will hand over the reins to Mike Atherton, the former England captain, who has carved out a successful career in writing and broadcasting. CMJ will continue to write about cricket for The Times on a regular basis, bringing his unrivalled experience and passion for the game to bear in the corridors of power, the Test-match arena and county grounds.

A former Editor of The Cricketer magazine and Cricket Correspondent of the BBC, he has been a stalwart of radio's Test Match Special team and is the author of numerous books. He has been a perennial winner of the annual readers' poll in Wisden Cricket Monthly (now The Wisden Cricketer) for best cricket writer.