“But as is the case with 99 per cent of the New Zealand players, they are fantastic human beings”, he said.
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“People’s hearts were touched by the battle that Martin Crowe had”, said New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.
“Martin was one of the first to congratulate me after I went past his New Zealand test record score [299]; he seemed to enjoy the moment for my sake, which was really selfless of him”.
Martin’s elder brother Jeff Crowe, also a former New Zealand cricketer, was present at the stadium and was a part of the solemn proceedings.
Less than twelve hours had passed between Martin’s passing away and Jeff’s enormous show of resilience and professionalism.
Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand’s greatest bowler, said Crowe had the rare ability to change a shot when he had been deceived by a bowler to preserve his wicket.
In his retirement Crowe devised a new ultra-short form of the game called Cricket Max for his new employer Sky Television which helped lay the foundation for the modern Twenty20 revolution.
Crowe once nominated his 182 runs in an innings victory over Australia in 1985 as a career highlight, along with 142 scored against England at Lord’s in 1994.
He will be sadly missed around the world, including by many Australian cricketers who held deep affection for him and admired his wonderful talents.
New Zealand reached the final on the 2015 World Cup, and Crowe said before the clash with Australia he would be happy if that match was the last he would see.
“An inspiration to me and so many others” he tweeted.
Former Australian skipper Allan Border caught up with Crowe just last week while in New Zealand commenting on the touring Baggy Greens saying his friend was weak but still firing wisecracks about their old rivalry.
Crowe is survived by his wife, Lorraine Downes, and daughter Emma and step-children Hilton and Jasmine.
The peak of Crowe’s 143-match one-day worldwide career was the 1992 World Cup, when he captained his side to within a whisker of the finals, scored more runs than anyone else in the tournament, was declared man of the series, and showed himself an imaginative leader whose innovations included opening the bowling with a spinner, Dipak Patel, and introducing pinch-hitters.
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“Kiwi great Martin Crowe is no more and the cricket world is poorer again”. One of the games greats on and off the field.
