Cricket legend Martin Crowe dies

New Zealand batting legend Martin Crowe died on Thursday at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer, his family said.

‘It is with heavy hearts that the family of Martin Crowe, MBE, advise his death,’ they said in a statement.

‘Diagnosed in September 2014 with terminal double-hit lymphoma, he passed away peacefully today, Thursday, March 3, in Auckland surrounded by family.’

Widely regarded as New Zealand`s finest batsman, Crowe played 77 tests from 1982-1995 and scored 5,444 runs at an average of 45.36.

The elegant right-hander also scored 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55 in one-day internationals.

Ranked among the International Cricket Council’s top five batsmen from 1987 to 1992, Crowe scored 299 runs in one innings against Sri Lanka in 1991, setting a New Zealand test record that stood until Brendon McCullum broke it in 2014.

“I never forgave myself for getting out for 299 against Sri Lanka,” Crowe wrote in a 2014 article for ESPN Sports Media.

“Not a week would go by when I wouldn’t be reminded of the one run I craved so much. It tore at me like a vulture pecking dead flesh.”

In 77 test matches, Crowe scored 5,444 runs at an average of 45, reaching 100 on 17 occasions. He played for New Zealand from 1982 to 1995, when a knee injury forced him to retire prematurely from the sport, at age 33.

Crowe was “a thinker” who used his intelligence to get the most out of his natural talent, according to former teammate Martin Snedden.

“It was his ability to work out how best to use that talent to nullify the opposition,” Snedden wrote in a testimonial on Crowe’s website. “I watched him do this when he took on and triumphed over possibly the most fearsome fast bowling attack in history, the West Indies. Then he did the same when faced with a completely different challenge, spin in Asia.”