Jeff Crowe stood in as match referee in an Asia Cup match only hours after his brother Martin's death
Jeff Crowe officiates hours after brother's death
As the cricket world mourned the passing of Black Caps great Martin Crowe, less than 12 hours after his death brother Jeff was fulfilling his duties as an international match referee in the India v United Arab Emirates game in Bangladesh.
Jeff Crowe, a former Kiwi captain, showed tremendous resilience by performing his regular duties as a match referee in the Asia Cup game.
Players wore black arm-bands and observed a minute’s silence prior to the match before Crowe saluted a picture of his younger brother being displayed on the big screen at the Dhaka ground.
The gesture was widely praised on social media.
Image Id: ~/media/B7543FDCA6884265A726E18053826C9C Image Caption: Jeff Crowe's salute to his brother Martin // Pic courtesy of @IndiatimesThat image of Jeff Crowe saluting the photograph of his younger brother on the big screen was sad and haunting. Will stay with me for long.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 3, 2016
Hats off to the match referee Jeff Crowe, elder brother to the late Martin Crowe, for continuing the show in the #SpiritOfCricket #AsiaCup
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 3, 2016
Before his international career, Jeff Crowe played several seasons of Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia between 1977 and 1982.
He returned to New Zealand, making his Test debut in 1983 and played alongside his brother in one of New Zealand’s most successful periods in international cricket.
Image Id: ~/media/06304CC5E3244D3EAC7CA98075257CCF Image Caption: Jeff and Martin Crowe together at The Oval, London in 1986 // GettyMartin Crowe’s death has been mourned across the globe.
Recently retired New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum paid tribute to Crowe’s influence on the current New Zealand players.
Quick Single: Tributes pour in for 'inspirational' Crowe
“It’s hard to imagine a New Zealand cricket landscape without Martin – he’s been a constant for both myself and the Black Caps team,” McCullum said.
“Martin was one of the first to congratulate me after I went past his New Zealand Test record score (of 299); he seemed to enjoy the moment for my sake, which was really selfless of him.
“He was a huge supporter of the way we played our cricket; I think the style we adopted at the time resonated strongly with him - he was always encouraging us to go higher, further, faster.
“That meant a lot to us. To have someone of Martin’s stature backing us so publicly gave us a lot of confidence.”
Crowe was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma 2012 and underwent treatment for the cancer but when it returned in 2014, he chose not to continue with chemotherapy.
His 17 Test centuries remains a New Zealand record and he led the Black Caps to semi-finals of the 1992 World Cup.
He proved an inspiration to the New Zealand side during last year’s World Cup, with Kiwi opener Martin Guptill saying that some advice in a message from Crowe was behind his unbeaten 237 against the West Indies in the quarter-final.