Cricketing greats honored Martin Crowe at an emotional funeral for New Zealand’s greatest batsman yesterday, with his cousin, Hollywood star Russell Crowe, acting as a pallbearer.
About 1,000 mourners packed Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral to remember Martin Crowe, who died on Friday last week aged 53 after a long battle with cancer.
The batsman’s brother, Jeff, himself a former Black Caps captain, said the family had been touched by the outpouring of grief from across the cricketing world.
Photo: AP
Jeff was in Bangladesh on umpiring duties when Martin died and said there were heartfelt tributes from many involved in the game, including “a new Indian cricket generation.”
“It had never really dawned on me ... what a huge splash he made, what a true inspiration he was,” Crowe senior told the service.
“Wasim Akram reminded me just the other day that Martin was the greatest batsman he ever bowled to — no higher praise than that,” he added.
Photo: AP
Former teammates shared memories of a player who averaged 45.36, despite being plagued by injury in his 77-Test career, hitting 17 centuries — still a New Zealand record.
Former Black Caps wicketkeeper Ian Smith read out a message from Australia great Allan Border, Martin’s fierce rival who became a close friend.
“Cricket has lost one of its iconic players. He will be fondly remembered, greatly missed, but never forgotten, a true champion,” Border said.
Smith said Martin’s cricketing brain was unsurpassed, describing him as years ahead of his time in devising a shortened form of the game that paved the way for Twenty20.
He also shared lighter memories, such as Martin imitating opponents’ techniques during rain delays in the dressing room and forcing teammates to repeatedly watch films featuring his Oscar-award winning cousin.
Martin “was in Gladiator as an extra, he was a senator — well he was never going to be a footsoldier was he?” Smith quipped, referring to the Russell Crowe blockbuster.
The actor’s presence at the service had been in doubt due to prior commitments, but he made the trip to New Zealand with his children.
He did not address the service, but after Crowe’s death tweeted: “My champion, my hero, my friend. I will love you forever.”
He helped carry a casket bearing a giant inlaid silver fern to a hearse outside the cathedral as students from Martin’s former school Auckland Grammar performed a haka.
Jeff said cousins Martin and Russell had shared a friendly rivalry as they both embarked upon stellar careers in their chosen fields.
“I do remember a wager they had on who would be the most famous,” he said. “Russ, today only, I think Martin might be in front.”
Smith said he saw Crowe in recent months “as things were shutting down” due to the cancer that was first diagnosed in October 2012 and then returned in September 2014.
“I won’t remember him that way,” Smith said. “I’ll always see a great man at the crease. White helmet, silver fern on ... playing the most perfect straight drive back past the bowler for four.”
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS