On the bus to the station, but thought I should pay a short tribute and also have a thread for your thoughts.
To me he had that special status. “The bloke you had to get out”. Each team seemed to have at least one (except us in the 90s!). His century to open the 1992 World Cup set up that tournament. There are plenty of tributes out there. Feel for his friends and family, and for New Zealand.
RIP Martin Crowe
Being Outside Cricket 
He was a batsman whose runs were earnt in blood, unlike many from the current generation or so. Although perhaps younger fans may think Kane Williamson is something special, Crowe had to play against not only Australia but Pakistan and the two Ws, The Windies and even some periodically useful England seamers. That he had the record he did and that he played with such class was testament to his quality.
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He was also a very good journalist and someone who had a great sense of humour. He wrote a great article here http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/693959.html and I think it resonates with most sports people. I also remember him jesting with an Australian blogger and appearing on his pod casts a few times (The name of which escapes me now) but you know, he was a top bloke who will be very much missed.
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Gideon Haigh’s tribute, every bit as great as you hoped it would be:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/890241.html
(Crowe’s batting was always more than just his stats – but to point out that he scored three centuries in seven Tests against the great West Indies and his average against them was exactly his career average, 45. Only Border had a higher average against them in the 80s and only Gooch, Lamb and Vengsarkar – who all played many more games – had more centuries: http://goo.gl/NEYxDV ).
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Simply magnificent.
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Completely agree. One of the best and most elegant batsman I ever saw. Whenever England played New Zealand I had such mixed feelings when Martin Crowe came out to bad. There was the dread of him taking the game away from us but I had to sit and watch because his batting was so wonderful to watch. He made batting look easy and that there was no way of getting him out.
And he was such a nice guy. A terrible loss.
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“bat” of course, not “bad”. I’m upset enough not to check my typing.
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Predictive text, Tom. Curses to it.
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A right-handed NZ batsman every bit as elegant as David Gower without giving the impression he’d be out the very next ball.
Sorry I haven’t commented much recently, but work has taken priority. I actually found a way to watch some of the recent SA vs. England matches recently, but falling coconuts kept interfering with reception. That’s what the local “Da Kine” internet company told me anyway.
Nice to be back and catch up with things and to see you persevering. I hope you are doing well.
Tom
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Good to hear from you from all that way away.
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Very, very sad. His illness has been know for some time, and he has fought hard against it. But it is still a shock when you hear of his passing. As others have said he was a great player.
I will always remember him as the man who took on the impossible task of trying to replace Viv Richards and Joel Garner at Somerset, and Ian Botham, when he walked out on the club in protest. Martin had the thankless Job of replacing these giants of the game. Not only that but the club was split in two, with huge bitterness on each side. It was never Martins fault what happened, yet some gave him a very hard time.
He didn’t flinch, and did his job with great skill and bravery. A trait he showed again when he faced his illness. RIP Martin Crowe.
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I am 56. I would never have had the guts to do what MC did. Given the splits in the NZ set up – Coney-Hadlee – and the Somerset area, he conducted himself perfectly and played like a hero. Where was Flower?
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I hate to use the great Martin Crowe’s passing as an excuse for yet more Mike Selvey bashing, but it seems to me that Selfey might be regretting his statement of only a week or so ago that Brendon McCullum was New Zealand’s best ever batsman. The passing of such a colossus only shows up the utter absurdity of that hyperbole, which is merely indicative of Selvey’s recent discovery of all things New Zealand (as I wrote in a reply to one of Aaron’s posts last week, it’s only a couple of years since commenters below the line at the Guardian had to plead with Selvey even to mention in his reports the Kiwi players who repeatedly outplayed a supposedly superior England team in the 2013 series in New Zealand). He even manages a completely unfounded slight at Crowe for having an average of “only” 45, claiming this isn’t the mark of a great player; when we all know that during that period that anything over 40 was the sign of a very good player indeed (Atherton and Stewart finished on below that figure, I refuse to accept ***k and e.g. Bell as superior to them, in view of the bowlers the former faced and the wickets they played on). Crowe’s record at a time when few NZ players had an average even approaching 40 speaks for irslef, but the fact that Wasim Akram speaks of him as the best batsman he ever bowled to is more indicative of his quality.
Crowe’s life was permeated with sadness and even tragedy throughout, but his spirit was indomitable. His remark that we “should smile when stumps are drawn and be grateful for the day’s cricket” is more than a comment on how the great game should be played, it amounts to a philosophy of life. It’s more than a great batsman that we have lost.
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Six months before McCullum led the “most important tour of England ever”, he could be overlooked for the ten highlights of the year in favour of Strauss calling Pietersen a “c*nt” (while still “retaining his dignity” of course), in spite of making his country’s first-ever triple hundred and thus completing the set for the eight major Test nations.
That pretty much sums it up. It’s all about Cook and England, even when it’s not.
At least the tribute to Crowe is sincere, eloquent and free of hyperbole.
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Clive,
you could understand it a bit more if Selvey was in his late 20s, and had not seen that era. But not only did he live through that time, he PLAYED in the 70s for gawds sake. His Test match career was against the great WI pace attack of the mid 1970s. He saw first hand what it was like to face fast bowling with little or no protective clothing. As you point out an average of 40 was seen as top draw. And if you averaged anything around 50 you were all time great material.
He must be a bit simple not to understand this. Or as usual trying to be too clever by half.
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One from Greg Chappell:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/mar/04/martin-crowes-insatiable-curiosity-made-him-the-thinking-mans-cricketer
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An extremely moving personal tribute from Mark Nicholas, including an astonishing letter Martin wrote to his brother Jeff last month (published with Jeff’s blessing):Marty goes to rest.
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Here’s the text from his Spirit of Cricket lecture…
https://www.lords.org/mcc/mcc-spirit-of-cricket/mcc-spirit-of-cricket-cowdrey-lecture/2006-martin-crowe/
Not sure where the recording sits.
Maybe others can confirm or deny this but I remember that in what was probably his last tour of England his knee was so knackered that he had some sort of brace over it. I remember watching him compose a flawless century and being spellbound by the talent that he must possess.
Jarrod Kimber’s tribute is also a good ‘un..
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