Martin David Crowe MBE (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator.

In the same match, he also set a new record for the highest partnership in Test cricket, putting on 467 runs with Andrew Jones.

At the 1992 World Cup, which New Zealand co-hosted with Australia, Crowe was named the player of the tournament, and led his team to a semi-final.

[10] In 1968, Martin Crowe joined his father and brother at the Cornwall Cricket Club, with which he maintained a lifelong connection.

[11] Returning to New Zealand for the 1981–82 domestic season, he scored a maiden first-class century, making 150 runs against Canterbury.

[13] He had great success in his first County Championship season, finishing second behind Vic Marks in Somerset's averages and placing sixth for overall runs scored.

[24] At the 1983 World Cup in England, Crowe played in all six of his team's matches, with only Geoff Howarth scoring more runs.

[28] In a Test against the West Indies in February 1987, Crowe and John Wright put on 241 runs for the third wicket, setting a new third-wicket record for New Zealand.

He finished as New Zealand's leading run-scorer, making three half-centuries from six matches, although his team struggled (winning only against Zimbabwe).

[34] Crowe and Andrew Jones (who scored 186) put on 467 runs for the third wicket, setting a new record for the highest partnership in Test cricket.

[38] Crowe largely blamed himself for his team's loss, and in a 2014 article said that his decision not to take the field was "a curse that had tormented me for over two decades".

[41] He had a troubled relationship with the media throughout his captaincy, in one case using a press conference to confront a journalist who had published an article implying he had AIDS.

[42] In his first series after giving up the captaincy, a 1994 tour of England, Crowe scored consecutive centuries, making 142 at Lord's and 115 at Old Trafford.

[47] Crowe held the record for the most Test centuries by a New Zealander at the time, finishing with seventeen (including one against every Test-playing team but South Africa).

He was a board member of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club of which Russell Crowe is part owner.

In 2014, he predicted and named Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Joe Root in the young Fab Four list for test cricket.

[78] 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.

[84] In 2014, Crowe announced that the lymphoma had returned and subsequently indicated that his chances of survival beyond 12 months were less than 5% and also of his wish to see the 2015 Cricket World Cup[85] in February and March 2015.

[94] Upon his death, Crowe was eulogised in The Guardian as "not just one of New Zealand’s greatest ever cricketers, but one of the most elegant batsmen the world has yet seen".

[95] A 2012 article by Mark Nicholas described him as "upright, orthodox and immensely strong" at the wicket, and praised the "speed and grace of the footwork" and "perfect head position".

[97] During his early career, Crowe was also often used as a "bits and pieces bowler", with his "lively in-swingers" faring especially well in English conditions.

[98] He was regarded as an "outstanding" fieldsman,[99] and against Zimbabwe in the 1987 World Cup dismissed David Houghton with an outstretched diving catch that was said to have won New Zealand the game.

[100] As a captain, Crowe was known for his use of innovative techniques, most notably opening the bowling with a spinner, Dipak Patel, at the 1992 World Cup.

[101] Former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja described Crowe as "an imaginative leader who maximised his team's potential and resources by thoughtful captaincy and out-of-the-box tactics".