13 Interesting facts about Martin Crowe - The greatest New Zealand batsman

13 Interesting facts about Martin Crowe – The greatest New Zealand batsman: Perhaps the best ever batsman to emerge from the Kiwi soil, Martin Crowe broke several batting records despite fighting a spate of injuries. He was popularly known as the best young batsman in the world in his starting days. A prolific right-handed batsman, Crowe also bowled medium-pace in the early part of his career. He was a classical batsman with a wide range of shots and seemingly all the time in the world to play them. Let us have a look at some interesting facts you need to know about the former Kiwi star.

1. From a Cricketing family:

Martin Crowe was born on September 1962 in Henderson, Auckland, to Dave Crowe, a former New Zealand domestic cricketer. His brother Jeff also represented New Zealand.

2. A great 1992 World Cup:

With 456 runs at an average of 114, Martin Crowe was the best batsman of the 1992 WC as he led New Zealand to the semi-finals.

3. First-class numbers:

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 among the New-Zealanders.

4. Innovation in the blood:

Martin Crowe came up with pearls such as opening the bowling with Dipak Patel in the opening match of the 1992 WC against Australia, and the promotion of Mark Greatbatch in the order to rattle the opposition as the Kiwis made the semis.

5. Test career in numbers:

With Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe was at the heart of a New Zealand side which enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s. In a 77 match Test career, Crowe scored 5444 runs at a fine average of 45.36.

6. What a knock:

His best innings was a superb 299 against Sri Lanka in 1991, which is still the record for the second highest Test score by a New Zealand batsman. During that innings he shared a 467-run partnership with Andrew Jones, at the time the highest partnership in Test history until 2009, but still remains the third highest.

7. Not one to give up:

In 1994 after Sir Richard Hadlee had retired, Martin Crowe led the Kiwi side brilliantly scoring 380 runs in the 3 Tests against England. He was next to hobbling most of the time on that tour.

8. Once an innovator always an innovator:

Always known to be ahead of his times, Martin played an attacking style of cricket to take advantage of the fielding restrictions in ODIs, he also initiated the ‘Cricket Max’ in New Zealand – a shortened version of the game (10 overs per side).

9. The IPL connection:

Martin Crowe was named as the CEO of RCB in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008, but a poor performance by the Bangalore outfit saw his exit soon.

10. ODI career in numbers:

Martin Crowe played 143 One Day International, averaging 38.55, and hit four centuries and 34 half-centuries.

11. The battle with cancer:

Martin Crowe was diagnosed with Lymphoma in October 2012. He battled hard and overcame the illness in June 2013. However in 2014 the threat of cancer returned and Crowe expressed his desire to see the 2015 World Cup saying that chances of his survival for long are bleak.

12. Post retirement ventures:

After retiring, Martin Crowe took up as a commentator with Sky in New Zealand as well as heading their cricket coverage behind the scenes.

13. What a day:

On 28 February 2015, Crowe was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in an emotional ceremony during the lunch break of New Zealand’s pool game against Australia during the 2015 World Cup.

Demise:

On 3rd March 2016, Martin Crowe lost his battle against lymphoma the cancer of immune system. It was an emotional moment for the entire cricketing universe and especially New Zealand cricket, who always looked up to him as an inspiring figure.