MARTIN DAVID CROWE (NEW ZEALAND)

Introduction:

Martin David Crowe, (born 22 September 1962) is a former New Zealand cricketer, commentator and author. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world". A right handed batsman, Martin Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996. Through the early part of his career he was also a medium pace bowler. He captained New Zealand in the early 1990s, and during this period he brought many innovations, such as opening with spin bowlers and utilising pinch hitting batsmen.

Personal Life:

Martin Crowe married former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes in 2009. Martin Crowe set up College 1st XV Rugby on the Rugby Channel which is still being covered weekly during New Zealand winters. On 15 October 2012, it was revealed that Martin 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. On 5 June 2013, Martin Crowe announced that he was free of cancer on Campbell Live, but he would cut his ties with cricket, as he was a self proclaimed "recovering addict to cricket, much like an alcoholic". Martin Crowe says he wore a 'mask' from the age of 22, due to high expectations, but at the age of 51 was happy to 'look at the real me'. In 2014, Martin Crowe announced that the lymphoma had returned and subsequently indicated that his chances of survival beyond 12 months were less than 5% and also of his wish to see the 2015 Cricket World Cup in February and March 2015.

Domestic Cricket:

Martin Crowe represented four domestic cricket teams in his career, Auckland, Central Districts, Somerset and Wellington. He scored nearly 20,000 first class runs, with 71 centuries. His average of 56.02 is one of the highest first class averages of all time.

Career:

Martin Crowe played 77 test matches, averaging 45.65 with the bat, including 17 centuries and 18 half centuries. He also played 143 ODIs, averaging 38.55, and hit four centuries and 34 half centuries. In 1991, he shared a 467 run partnership with Andrew Jones, at the time the highest partnership in Test history and in 2009 remained the third highest. Martin Crowe was dismissed on 299, the highest innings by a New Zealander in Test history, until 2014 when Brendon McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a triple century. Inzamam ul Haq considers him to be one of the three best batsmen he has seen along with Viv Richards and Ricky Ponting. He also made the highest number of runs in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, in which New Zealand came first in the league round before losing to fourth qualified Pakistan in the semifinal. Whilst captaining in the 1992 World Cup, New Zealand lost only two matches. Former captain of Pakistani cricket team, Rameez Raja said Martin Crowe was an imaginative leader who maximized his team's potential and resources by thoughtful captaincy and out of the box tactics to flummox oppositions. He used the local conditions brilliantly and made the opposition think and admit to New Zealand's

presence in the 1992 World Cup. His famous trick was Dipak Patel with the new ball, which turned out to be a master stroke, a move that was tailor made to extract advantage out of New Zealand pitches and it stunned the opposition with a bit of drama as well. The off spinner showed great control with the new ball and bowled an aggressive line to pick up wickets. In the 1992 New Year Honours, Martin Crowe was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket. On 28 February 2015, 

Martin Crowe was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in an emotional ceremony during the lunch break of New Zealand's winning pool game against Australia during the 2015 world cup.

Coaching:

Martin Crowe helped develop a local variation of cricket After the retirement, called 'Cricket Max', and became a television commentator and pundit. He is currently a board member of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club of which Russell Crowe is part owner. He was roped in as the CEO of the management team of Royal Challengers Bangalore, a team in the Indian Premier League. Midway through the season the owner Vijay Mallya expressed displeasure over the team and its performance in the league by sacking its bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and mentor Charu Sharma blaming them for dismal team performance. Later in October of the same year, Martin Crowe parted ways with the team and brought in Ray Jennings, the former coach of the South African National Cricket Team as the head coach of the team. Sources suggested that Mallya was unhappy with the team he had and held Martin Crowe and his management team responsible for the debacle.

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