Cricket: A legend goes back to the basics

Martin Crowe. Photos / Paul Estcourt

The 49-year-old Martin Crowe, one of the world's best batsmen during his 77-test career, returns to cricket action today for his beloved Cornwall club.

Sixteen years after his final international appearance in a brilliant but injury-affected career, Crowe - now executive producer for Sky's Rugby Channel - will don the whites as captain of the Cornwall premier reserves at Papatoetoe when the two-day club competition starts.

While his love of the game and a desire to tame middle age spread have helped persuade Crowe to embark on a unique comeback, the competitive fires still burn brightly. His ultimate aim is a place in Auckland's Plunket Shield side although he admits his chances are not high. Injuries have come easily, and he will need exceptional numbers to replace a representative up-and-comer.

But Crowe was a truly exceptional cricketer and almost certainly our finest batsman, so nothing is impossible. He chats with the Herald about his return to the crease, his career, old team mates and opponents, commentary and the state of cricket.

Tell us about the comeback.

I'm doing it for my well being, health and fitness. But once I get a bat in the hands - it was the thing I was born to do. I finished on a bit of a negative - Glenn Turner didn't want me [in the New Zealand side] and the injured knee was screaming at me. This is my way of getting back to the purity of the game ... and taking out my frustrations with how it has been run. And to bat and move between the wickets is a joy. When I finished playing, I was hobbling. At 40, I couldn't walk at all and had to have an operation which meant my right tibia was sawn off below the knee and moved 10 degrees to the left. Today I can run which is due to the op, but mainly the desire to play again. It means I can run around the park with my daughter ... it's a freedom I never thought I could experience again.

Are the instincts and reactions still there?
I've been tested by the same guy who tested me in 1992 and my eyesight is 20 per cent better now and so is my balance. The brain picks up the ball and tells the body what to do, the trouble being the body was 10kg heavier and didn't want to do it. That was the challenge. The oxymoron is that I can't see two feet in front of me - I need glasses to read or write. Footwork is the engine room of batting and that comes back although I haven't been up against 140km/h bowling.

What has been your preparation?
I've had 20 hours in the nets ... I tried a personal trainer but flagged that, it was just too much for a 49-year-old. Cornwall had a boot camp and I tore a hamstring there. This is a mental challenge and I'm intrigued.

Are there any Cornwall teammates left from the past?
Rex Smith is still the coach all these years later - he's got Graham Henry-like numbers. The players are all aged 20 to 25 - they have been great. It was pouring with rain at practice this week and they tore about playing rugby whereas I put the kettle on.

There can't be many reserve grade club cricketers in the world with more than 5000 test runs and 17 centuries ...
I'm disappointed not starting in the premiers, but that is down to the injuries. Going back to Cornwall has been wonderful - I started there in 1968. I got the love of the game from my father and his ashes are spread there; there is also a plaque on a bench for him. Playing for Auckland might not be a realistic dream but I'm not mucking about with this. The currency I've always dealt in is 100s. Another goal is to play for the MCC who meet the English county champions in Abu Dhabi before each season.

You are sorely missed in the TV commentary box - any chance of a full return?
No. I'm married (to Lorraine Downes), with an eight-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old stepdaughter and I don't want a life on the road any more. I knew it was time to step down when Ian Smith challenged me saying I could not do commentary while coaching some of the New Zealand players [including Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott and Tim McIntosh]. There were the other issues but that was the final one.

A quick look back ... do you have a favourite innings?
A couple - scoring a century at Lords in '94 on one leg, after coming back from injury in '93. I cherished Lords and my father always talked about the place ... it wasn't against a great attack and there was nothing special about the innings but it was incredibly emotional. Scoring three centuries against the West Indies won me a certain amount of respect.

The scariest fast bowler ...
My debut was against Thommo (Aussie Jeff Thomson). I was just out of school and Thommo kept hitting me, Bruce Laird kept handing my helmet back, and Rodney Marsh kept telling me how noisy it was when a cricket ball hit a helmet. I didn't want to be there. I got the bat on one to where there were no fielders in front of the wicket, I ran to the other end and Geoff Howarth hadn't moved. Thommo ran me out. I thought if this is test cricket Mr Howarth you can stick it - we never saw eye to eye from that point on.

Speaking of fast bowlers, what about the great man, Richard Hadlee?
Some players such as John Bracewell never warmed to him but I certainly did. Bracewell called us a dysfunctional family but that New Zealand team was proud, edgy, hungry, had the bit between the teeth, and we were led by a mighty champion. Richard Hadlee was a class act. He was the number one bowler in the world for eight years running and a terrific batsman ... there was an incredible emptiness in the New Zealand side with him gone.

What's the best advice you ever received?
Whenever I knew there was a great player in the ground, I would seek their advice. Sunil Gavaskar taught me about head position, Bert Sutcliffe about the grip, Greg Chappell foot movement, Viv Richards courage ...

Scary man, Viv Richards ...
At Port of Spain, on his first day as captain of the West Indies, he comes up to me at the tea break and says 'what the f*** are you doing here, you need to f*** off.' The All Blacks had just announced they were off to South Africa and he was so anti-apartheid he was just bursting with rage. He was fearless and stood up for what he believed in.

Is there anything you would change in cricket?
I hate the term Black Caps and get sick of all our national teams having variations on that (All Black theme). I'm not a Black Cap - I'm a New Zealand cricketer. We're the only national cricket team with a name like that. It makes us sound like just another franchise and there are so many of them. Without getting too deep, it might affect our players on a subconscious level.

The big one - what's the state of New Zealand cricket?
I loved representing my country but the administration has struggled apart from the Chris Doig era. He was robust, innovative, a go-getter, a very powerful presence. I don't have a lot of positive things to say at the moment so I don't want to dwell on that. Our former batsmen such as Bruce Edgar, John Wright and Andrew Jones weren't necessarily pretty to watch, but they were self-sufficient and effective. What you see now is a lot of cloned batsmen and under pressure they struggle to respond. I'm most worried about the bowling, though. We are being left behind a breakaway of the top test nations. Test cricket is where the game is at and it produces the quality players for the other forms. From December to February we have 80 consecutive days with no first class cricket which sends a message it isn't important any more.

On a positive note ...?
I believe we have a good captain in Ross Taylor and he can lead the side for the next seven or eight years. Hopefully we can find a good CEO. The emphasis has to be on the domestic first class competition. We need a parochial competition that produces cricketers with the desperation to win.

Bets on Crowe's comeback

Crowe's TAB odds

0 runs (duck) $5.00
50 or more $2.20
100 or more $6.00
Under 33.5 runs $1.85
Over 33.5 runs $1.85

If you were to draw an analogy between Martin Crowe's improbable comeback and a certain horse race this week, he would be the once-brilliant 12-year-old thoroughbred with gimpy fetlocks, unimpressed by the new breed of racehorse, who fancies a couple more laps of Flemington.

The odds on Crowe, 49, succeeding in his quest to play first-class cricket again would surely be long given that he has barely held a bat in anger since retiring from all cricket in 1995.

The odds on him scoring runs for Cornwall Reserves are a little more generous, however. Crowe is captaining the side against Papatoetoe today, and to celebrate the occasion the TAB is offering a book on how many runs he will score.

"It's for a bit of fun," said the TAB's Mark Stafford. "We all think Martin's a champion of the game deserving of some coverage."

The bet applies to Crowe's first-innings score only, and only becomes valid if he takes the crease. Stafford said it was not an easy book to price up, given that betting on reserve-grade cricket is unprecedented, "but we think he's good to reach at least 30".

Crowe has recovered from a minor niggle to take his place. Stafford said Crowe's comeback had become a water-cooler topic at the TAB. "Everyone had an opinion on his comeback ... That's what we are trying to capture."