Martin Crowe, MBE Biography - Friday 4th July

Martin Crowe MBE is a former New Zealand cricket captain, world class cricketer, TV Executive Producer, commentator, author and now mentor and speaker. An elegant right handed batsman, he was arguably New Zealand’s greatest ever batsman, by virtue of his record 17 test centuries and until being recently broken by Brendan McCullum’s Test Triple Century, New Zealand’s second highest ever test innings of 299. He was voted NZ Sportsman of the Year in 1991 and, in the same year, awarded the Member of the British Empire MBE, for services to cricket. In 2001, he was inducted into New Zealand's Sports Hall of Fame.

Globally speaking, he was lauded for his brilliant and innovative captaincy of New Zealand’s highly successful 1992 World Cup cricket campaign and was voted Champion Player of the Tournament. In 1995, he wrote the acclaimed ‘Out on a Limb’ autobiography in his final year as a professional cricketer.

Upon retiring from actively playing cricket Martin created Cricket Max, a three hour format, that pioneered a third generation cricket format for the future. Cricket Max became the catalyst for the now globally popular Twenty20 format. In conjunction with Sky TV (NZ) he changed the landscape of cricket forever. Within two years he was Sky’s Executive Producer for all cricket coverage, including his highly respected commentary and writings on the game. 

In 2006 he gave the highly honoured annual MCC ‘Cowdrey Lecture’ at Lords, on the subject of the ‘Spirit of Cricket’, the first New Zealander to ever do so. He continued to work for Sky TV (NZ) in various Executive Producer roles until late 2012.

Also in 2006, he began a new passion of mentoring. Ross Taylor, the young talented NZ batsman, called on Martin to guide him. Ross wanted to achieve the goal of overtaking Martin's record of 17 test centuries, and Martin was there to mentor Ross to fulfil his dream.

In 2009, Martin married former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes. They are happily married and living in Auckland, with Lorraine’s daughter Jasmine and Martin’s daughter Emma.

In Oct 2012 Martin was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma and in June 2013 he announced that chemotherapy treatment had successfully restored him back to normal health. Martin then published a bestselling book “RAW”, an inspiring account of his journey through cancer and his recovery. He was determined to share his experiences, good and bad and this is a journey he wishes to continue by inspiring others, especially his fellow New Zealanders and especially the young. This is the motivation behind the founding of 'M': Martin Crowe - Mentor.

Martin is well known for compiling a balanced innings at the crease. But it is now in life he is compiling his most important innings. This is where MBE stands for: Mind, Body & Eternal-Spirit. He now looks at life more spiritually, knowing that fulfilling ones potential comes from deep within, covering all our holistic needs.

Some of his career highlights include:

In Sport
  • Was NZ's 150th Test cricketer. Debut 1982 age 19. Played 77 Tests, scored 5444 runs at 45.36. Retired 1996 age 33.
  • Rated arguably NZ's greatest ever batsman with NZ Test record 17 centuries, and a highest score of 299, the second highest NZ Test innings. Also first New Zealander to score 10,000 international runs.
  • Became a consistent world top 5 ranked batsman between 1985-94, with Test highest ranking of no 2 in 1987, & One Day highest of no 2 in 1992.
  • Halberg NZ Sportsman of the Year 1991.
  • Awarded MBE in Queen’s honour list in 1991.
  • Led NZ's 1992 World Cup campaign & named Champion Player of the World, scoring 456 runs at 114.
  • In professional cricket over 16 years, he played in 508 First Class and List A matches, batted in 668 innings, scoring 28,348 runs including 82 hundreds & 142 fifties. In First Class scored 19,608 runs at 56.02 including 71 centuries. 
  • Inducted into New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame 2001.
Business
  • Wrote acclaimed autobiography 'Out on a Limb' in 1995.
  • Invented Cricket Max in 1995, the precursor to T20 cricket.
  • Ten years’ experience as Executive Producer Cricket for Sky TV.
  • Ran the Rugby Channel for three years.
  • Board director of South Sydney Rabbitohs 2006-
  • MCC World Committee member 2006-2013.
  • Gave the Colin Cowdrey 'Spirit of Cricket' lecture at Lords, in London in 2006.
  • Begins mentoring Ross Taylor, talented NZ batsman, in late 2006.
Present
  • Married to Lorraine Downes, father to Emma, stepfather to Jasmine.
  • Diagnosed with follicular lymphoma Oct 2012.
  • Remission June 2013.
  • Launched book 'RAW' - an autobiography of cancer and recovery.
  • RAW makes no 1 in Bestseller list for 5 weeks running.
  • Launched 'M', his new mentor service, via website, in late 2013.
Last modified: Sunday, 29 June 2014, 9:57 PM