A rugged pace bowler who had seam movement as his strength, Martin Snedden played for New Zealand during the late 1980s, predominantly in ODIs although he did play 25 Tests. Snedden had the ability to hit the seam consistently and as a result, was a difficult prospect to face in conditions that helped him. Apart from generating movement off the pitch, he also had clever variations and pace coupled with a deadly yorker. These factors made him better suited for limited-overs cricket because he didn't have penetration required to succeed in Tests on pitches that were docile.

Nevertheless, he did have his moments in the longest format, as his five-wicket haul against the mighty West Indies showed, as did his four-wicket hauls against England and India, the last one coming on a sub-continental surface in Hyderabad. However, such performances were scarce in his Test career and often he was more of a defensive bowler who could put a lid on the scoring rate.

Snedden's ability to choke the runs made him invaluable in the One-Day format where he was a vital cog of the Kiwi bowling unit. He could bowl incisive opening spells and also had the quality to close out the innings in the slog overs. Apart from seam bowling skills, he was also a determined lower order batsman who could provide resistance during pressure situations. He did conjure an ODI fifty though and that came when he was surprisingly sent to open the innings. For all his economical exploits with the ball,
Snedden was ironically the first bowler to concede over 100 runs in an ODI, though it was in a 60-overs game in 1983. It was a record that stood for 23 years before being breached by Australia's Mick Lewis in that famous 434-run chase at the Wanderers.

After his playing days, Snedden took over as the Chief Executive of New Zealand cricket in 2001 and performed the role with elan. He was extremely passionate about Rugby too, which isn't surprising for a Kiwi, and this led him to giving up the NZC post in order to organize the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He also played the sport as his passion and was quite good at it too. By basic qualification, Snedden was a lawyer and was adept at handling legal matters, as was evident from his days at NZC where smoothly controlled the organization. For his achievements, particularly as an administrator, Snedden was honored at the 2012 New Year Honors with the New Zealand Order of Merit.