Martin Crowe tribute: An excellent batsman, an inspirational leader, and innovator par excellence

Tags: Martin David Crowe, New Zealand, Martin Crowe passes away, Martin Crowe dead, Martin Crowe tribute, Martin Crowe no more

Published on: Mar 03, 2016

New Zealand’s greatest ever batsman Martin Crowe succumbed to cancer after a prolonged battle with the illness

New Zealand’s greatest ever batsman Martin Crowe succumbed to cancer after a prolonged battle with the illness. He was only 53. Crowe was suffering from lymphoma since 2012, as a result of which he limited his public appearances in recent months. The lynchpin of New Zealand’s batting from the mid-80s through to the early 90s, Crowe had a successful record in both Tests and ODIs. In 77 Tests, he scored 5444 runs at an average of 45.36 with 17 hundreds and 18 fifties. In 143 ODIs, he amassed 4704 runs at an average of 38.55, with four hundreds and 34 fifties.

While Crowe’s record speaks for itself, he played some brilliant knocks against the best in the business. A precious talent, he made his debut as a 19-year-old against Australia at Wellington. He needed nearly two years to register his first Test ton, against England in January 1984, at the same venue where he made his debut. Crowe did not look back after that. 1985 was his watershed year. He made 188 against West Indies, versus an attack comprising the best pace bowlers of that era. He got exactly the same score against Australia at Brisbane a few months later. Thanks to those knocks, Crowe was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

Crowe’s standout moment in Tests came when he made 299 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in January 1991. New Zealand had their backs against the wall in the game, and were facing a huge deficit in their second innings. But, Crowe batted for out for a mammoth 523 minutes, hitting 29 fours and three sixes. He was eventually dismissed, caught behind off Arjuna Ranatunga for 299. During the knock, Crowe featured in a record 467-run stand with Andrew Jones, who contributed an equally brilliant 186. New Zealand amassed 671 for 4 in their second innings, and managed to save the match.

A year later, Crowe was in his elements as both captain and batsman, during the 1992 World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and the Kiwis. He amassed a total of 456 runs during the tournament. He got a stupendous 100 against Australia at Auckland, and scored a memorable 91 in the semi-final against Pakistan at the same venue. Unfortunately, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s brilliance took Pakistan to victory. His other notable scores during the event were 71 not out against Zimbabwe, 81 not out against West Indies, and another unbeaten 73 against England. Crowe was by far the best batsman in the tournament by some distance.

As leader, he brought amazing innovations in the game, most notably opening the bowling with the off-spin of Dipak Patel, and using Mark Greatbatch as a pinch hitter. This was much before the T20 evolution, and was the inspiration for Sri Lanka’s use of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. Crowe was keen on playing the 1996 World Cup on the sub-continent, but a persistent knee injury brought a premature end to his career at the end of 1995, when he was only 33. Post-retirement, he conceived the Cricket Max which, though not successful, was the pre-cursor to the T20 format. To sum it up, Crowe was an excellent batsman, an inspirational leader, and innovator par excellence. RIP Champ!

--By A Cricket Analyst


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