Michael Douglas Martell was born in Perth, Western Australia on 28 September 1966. Before moving into officiating, he played thirty-four first grade matches in Western Australian Grade Cricket for Wanneroo and Bayswater-Morley. He also played for Balcatta Cricket Club in the WA Suburban Turf competition, taking the Champion Cricketer award for the 2000 to 2001 season.
An arm injury cut short his playing career, which led him to take up umpiring. He stepped onto the domestic scene in October 2007 for a one-day match, followed by his first-class debut in October 2008.
His international career spans multiple formats across men's and women's cricket. He stood in eight One Day Internationals between 2014 and 2017, alongside four Twenty20 Internationals in the same period. In the women's game, he officiated three Women's One Day Internationals from 2009 to 2011 and one Women's Twenty20 International in 2011.
His international assignments included standing in the second T20I between Australia and South Africa in November 2014. Later that month, he umpired his first ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground, once again featuring Australia and South Africa.