Martin Crowe

New Zealand|Middle order Batter
Martin Crowe
INTL CAREER: 1982 - 1995
Browse other players
West Indies
All

Alphabetically sorted top ten of players who have played the most matches across formats in the last 12 months

Full Name

Martin David Crowe

Born

September 22, 1962, Henderson, Auckland

Died

March 03, 2016, Auckland, (aged 53y 163d)

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium

Playing Role

Middle order Batter

RELATIONS

(father),

(brother)

Other

Coach, Commentator

As the 20th century drew to an end, Martin Crowe became the standard by which New Zealand batsmanship would be measured. A batsman of elegance, poise and range, Crowe broke through into Test cricket as a 19-year-old, and in a short span of time was heralded as the best young batsman in the world. By the end of his Test career, he was New Zealand's highest run-getter and century-maker, scorer or 10,000 international runs, its captain in the 1992 World Cup who engineered an exhilarating home run all the way to the semi-finals, and a totemic figure in his team's feisty Test performances through the Eighties.

The son of a cricketing family, whose father had played first-class cricket, Crowe came from suburban Auckland, destined for greatness. He arrived a complete batsman still in his teens, a technique burnished in both attack and defence, a fierce competitor alongside a devoted student of cricket with an innate game sense. In his prime, Crowe left the viewer with the impression of having a nanosecond more time to play his strokes, with balance in their execution and equanimity in his stance. He was a batsman of clean lines off the front foot, tall, elegant and classically sound, his signature strokes being down the ground, but capable of shots all around the wicket. His debut season in English county cricket as a 21-year-old replacement for Viv Richards at Somerset was a clear illustration that he belonged. At the crease, Peter Roebuck wrote of him, Crowe could "soar like an eagle."

Along with a clutch of senior players, with Richard Hadlee leading the bowling, Crowe was one of the central pillars of New Zealand's most successful team in history at the time. His 77 Tests and 143 ODIs for New Zealand remain memorable for his prolific batting through the 80s against the world's best bowling line-ups, both home and away, against high pace and quality spin. As captain of New Zealand at the 1992 World Cup, Crowe maximized New Zealand's resources in home conditions, turning the conventional rules of 50-over cricket on their head. He promoted big-hitting Mark Greatbatch up the order to open the batting, and started the bowling with offspinner Dipak Patel.

Injuries ranging from a broken shin, back trouble, torn hamstrings and in latter years, serious knee injuries, plagued him and would end his career. Through this, he produced performances of determination and dominance, part of 16 historic Test victories in which he averaged 55.5, ten runs above his career average. His highest Test score of 299 against Sri Lanka remained New Zealand's highest individual innings for more than two decades before Brendon McCullum's 302 versus India, in 2014.

After retirement, he worked in the media, heading Sky's television coverage of cricket in New Zealand for a period of time, invented a new format for the sport called Cricket Max, and worked with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the early years of the IPL. A thoughtful writer and commentator on the game, Crowe remained a mentor and a guide for a younger generation of New Zealand cricketers. Crowe was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2012 and although he was in remission for a time, he suffered a relapse in 2014, and died in 2016 at the age of 53.


Sharda Ugra

Martin Crowe Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests7713111544429945.361219044.65171865927710
ODIs143140184704107*38.55647672.6343437829660
FC247412621960829956.02--7180--2260
List A261256278740155*38.16--1159--1150

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests77351377676142/253/10748.282.9498.3000
ODIs143461296954292/92/932.894.4144.6000
FC247-792140101195/18-33.693.0366.5-40
List A261-39942859994/244/2428.874.2940.3200
Martin David Crowe

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI

Debut/Last Matches of Martin Crowe

Recent Matches of Martin Crowe

Photos of Martin Crowe

Jeff Crowe greets mourners at the funeral for his brother Martin Crowe
Students of Auckland Grammar school perform the haka
Martin Crowe and his wife, Lorraine Downes at the New Zealand Cricket awards, 2015
Martin Crowe looks up at the crowd
Martin Crowe was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame during the break
Martin Crowe was at Eden Park where he spoke to the media