- Martin Crowe
-
For the Emmerdale character, see Martin Crowe (Emmerdale).
Martin Crowe Personal information Full name Martin David Crowe Born 22 September 1962
Henderson, Auckland, New ZealandBatting style Right-hand bat Bowling style Right-arm medium Role Batsman Relations Dave Crowe (father) Jeff Crowe (brother) Russell Crowe (cousin) International information National side New Zealand Test debut 26 February 1982 v Australia Last Test 12 November 1995 v India ODI debut 13 February 1982 v Australia Last ODI 26 November 1995 v India Domestic team information Years Team 1979–1983 Auckland 1983–1990 Central Districts 1984–1988 Somerset 1990–1995 Wellington Career statistics Competition Test ODI FC List-A Matches 77 143 247 261 Runs scored 5444 4704 19608 8740 Batting average 45.36 38.55 56.02 38.16 100s/50s 17/18 4/34 71/80 11/59 Top score 299 107* 299 155* Balls bowled 1377 954 4010 2859 Wickets 14 29 119 99 Bowling average 48.28 32.89 99.69 28.87 5 wickets in innings 0 0 4 0 10 wickets in match 0 - 0 - Best bowling 2/25 2/9 5/18 4/24 Catches/stumpings 71/0 66/0 226/0 115/0 Source: CricInfo, 30 May 2009 Martin David Crowe (born 22 September 1962 in Henderson, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world".[1] Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996 as a right-handed batsman.[1] 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.
Contents
Early life
Crowe was born in September 1962 in Henderson, Auckland, to Dave Crowe, a former New Zealand domestic cricketer. Crowe's brother, Jeff, also represented New Zealand at international level, and both are cousins of actor Russell Crowe.[2]
Domestic cricket
Crowe represented four domestic cricket teams in his career, Auckland, Central Districts, Somerset and Wellington.[1] He scored nearly 20,000 first-class runs, with 71 centuries.[3] His average of 56.02 is one of the highest first-class averages of all time.
International career
Martin Crowe's test match performance graph.
Crowe played 77 test matches, averaging 45.65 with the bat, including 17 centuries and 18 half-centuries. He also played 143 One Day International, averaging 38.55, and hit four centuries and 34 half-centuries.[1] 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.[4] Crowe was dismissed on 299, the highest innings by a New Zealander in Test history.[5] Inzamam-ul-Haq considers him to be one of the three best batsmen he has seen along with Viv Richards and Ricky Ponting.[6]
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 Pakistan 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 Deepak 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. [7]Coaching
After his retirement, Crowe helped develop a local variation of cricket, called "Cricket Max",[8] and became a television commentator and pundit. He is currently a board member of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club which Russell Crowe is part owner of. He was roped in as the CEO in to 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, 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 Mr.Mallya was unhappy with the team he had and held Crowe and his management team responsible for the debacle.[9]
Comeback
On 19 May 2011, Crowe commented on Twitter that he wanted to improve his fitness by setting a goal to play first-class cricket again. He cited that he is only 3 first-class matches from 250, and 392 runs short of 20,000 runs.[10]
Crowe took his first step to playing first-class cricket by playing at club level at the age of 49 (he was due to debut much earlier, but was delayed due to a groin injury). He played for the Cornwall reserve grade team, captaining them and batting at No.3 against Papatoetoe in a second-division club match in Auckland.[11]
Notes
- ^ a b c d "Player Profile: Martin Crowe". CricInfo. http://content.cricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/36622.html. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ Crowe attended Auckland Grammar School and made his first class debut for Auckland against Canturbury aged 17. He scored 51. "Russell Crowe Russell Crowe Revealed... the Hollywood actor's family ties with Wrexham.". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/showbiz/russellcrowe.shtml. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ "Player Profile: Martin Crowe". Cricket Archive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1668/1668.html. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ "Test matches - Highest partnerships for any wicket". CricInfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283573.html. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ "High scores - New Zealand - Test matches". CricInfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_innings.html?class=1;id=5;type=team. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ "Inzamam misses record in farewell". London: BBC News. 12 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/7041258.stm. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ http://www.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/282529.html
- ^ "Cricket Max - The Game Invented By Martin Crowe". CricInfo. 2 February 1996. http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/67577.html. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ^ Raghav Ramaiah (24 October 2008). "Martin Crowe leaves RCB, Jennings brought in". Stuff.co.nz. http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3141001. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ "Martin Crowe returning to first class cricket?". nzherald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10726761. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ Martin Crowe to begin comeback in club match CricketNext. Retrieved 4 November 2011
External links
- Player profile: Martin Crowe from ESPNcricinfo
- Player Profile: Martin Crowe from Cricket Archive
Preceded by
John WrightNew Zealand national cricket captain
1990/1–1992/3Succeeded by
Ken RutherfordNew Zealand squad – 1983 Cricket World Cup 
New Zealand squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup New Zealand squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists Categories:- New Zealand cricketers
- New Zealand One Day International captains
- New Zealand One Day International cricketers
- New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame inductees
- New Zealand Test captains
- New Zealand Test cricketers
- Auckland cricketers
- Central Districts cricketers
- Somerset cricketers
- Wellington cricketers
- Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup
- Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup
- Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup
- Wisden Cricketers of the Year
- 1962 births
- Living people
- Indian Premier League
- Former students of Auckland Grammar School
- Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
- New Zealand national cricket team selectors
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
