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Martin Crowe beat his older brother Jeff to the crease as a New Zealand
player, making his debut against Australia in 1981-82, when he had to
face Dennis Lillee. Coaches spotted his potential early. He looked the
part: holding his bat still as the bowler approached, then lifting it
once, in the direction of third slip; back into the blockhole, then
easily into the stroke, very quick and light on his feet, despite being
14 stone and 6ft 1in. He was modelling himself on his hero, Greg
Chappell. He was also a slip fielder with safe hands. The correct
terminology is a 'murder' of crows, and murder was what bowlers could
look for when Martin was in his best form.
For a long time, though, he
was one of those New Zealand batsmen who fought for adequate scores. In
1984 he had a productive year at Somerset while Viv Richards was on tour
with West Indies. His breakthrough came with a score of 188 at
Georgetown in 1984-85, against a West Indies attack that included
Marshall, Garner and Holding. He made 188 again in Brisbane the
following winter. He scored 106 against England at Edgbaston in 1986,
137 against Australia in Adelaide in 1987-88, and 119 against West
Indies at Wellington in 1986-87. Health problems cut a chunk out of his
middle career and a bad back put paid to his sharp medium pace bowling.
In the 1983 World Cup he made 97 against England at the Oval while in
1987 he made 72 against Zimbabwe in Hyderabad, 58 against Australia at
Indore, and 58 against Zimbabwe in Calcutta. (Bob Harragan)
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Martin pictured on 8th May 1994 playing for New Zealand.
The after-effects of salmonella poisoning and increasing back problems affected Crowe in the latter part of
his career, but there were still triumphs. He scored 113 against India in Auckland in 1990 and on the tour
of England that followed he made 90 in one Test and 59 in another. He captained New Zealand in Pakistan
in 1990-91, scoring 68 not out in Karachi and 108 not out in Lahore, but his side lost all three Tests.
Also in 1990-91 Crowe and Andrew Jones added 467 for the third wicket against Sri Lanka in Wellington.
Crowe's share was 299, and he was run out going for his 300.
His best score against England in 1991-92
was his 56 at Auckland. In 1992-93 he led his country on their inaugural tour of Zimbabwe, making 42 in
the first game between the two countries in Bulawayo, then scoring 140 and 61 in the Harare Test.
He made 98 against Australia the following season when he was forced to hand over the captaincy to
Ken Rutherford after injury. He said farewell to Test cricket in style on one last tour of England in 1994,
scoring 142 at Lords and 70 and 115 at Old Trafford. Probably his finest hour was when he lead New Zealand
to the semi-final of the 1992 World Cup, scoring 100 not out in the opening match against Australia,
81 not out against the West Indies, 73 not out against England in Wellington and 91 in the semi-final
defeat by Pakistan. (Bob Harragan).
On 15 October 2012, it was revealed that Crowe had been diagnosed with lymphoma. He blamed the
illness on a failing immune system, weakened by various illnesses picked up while touring the world
in the 1980s and 1990s. Crowe died of complications from the disease in Auckland on 3 March 2016, aged 53.