Cricket Legend Martin Crowe Has Died

New Zealand's greatest test batsman has died.

Martin Crowe passed away today after a prolonged battle with cancer that eventually proved one attack the gifted cricketer couldn't see off.

Crowe is survived by wife Lorraine Downes, daughter Emma and step-children Hilton and Jasmine. He was 53.

One of the finest athletes this country has ever produced, Crowe made a considerable mark both on and off the pitch during a life spent in sport.

Crowe's 14 years spent wearing the silver fern saw the world's best bowling attacks dispatched to all-corners by a batsman blessed with a wide array of strokes.

1983 file picture of Martin Crowe acknowledging the crowd after making a century.

Crowe captained his country from 1990-1993, mixing his prodigious style at the crease with a number of innovations, including opening the bowling with spinners, implementing unexpected field placements and utilising pinch-hitting batsmen.

After such a distinguished playing career, Crowe continued to have a role in cricket, either behind the microphone in the commentary box, as a mentor and batting coach to contemporary Black Caps, or continuing an innovative streak by creating the Cricket Max format, a precursor to Twenty20.

Crowe married Downes, a former Miss Universe, in 2009 following a 25-year friendship. He had previously been married to interior designer Simone Curtice, from whom he separated in 1996, while he also had a daughter with Suzanne Taylor.

Sadly for Crowe, he announced in 2012 he had been diagnosed with lymphoma, blaming the illness on an immune system ravaged by the various maladies he endured while touring the world during his cricket career.

A year later Crowe confirmed he was clear of cancer's grip but in September 2014 said on Twitter he had suffered a lymphoma relapse, with his condition seriously worsening in the last few months.

"When he had completed chemotherapy he looked a shadow of the young man I once knew," said Sir John Graham, Crowe's headmaster at Auckland Grammar and a former All Black captain. "Yet he spoke with a growing and renewed confidence of his desire to help others. He spoke of the importance, particularly to young New Zealanders, of following one's dreams, of facing challenges, of aiming high."

Martin Crowe and wife Lorraine Downes at the 2015 Cricket Awards. Photo / Dean Purcell

In February last year, Crowe was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, receiving the honour at the Cricket World Cup pool match between the Black Caps and Australia. He received a standing ovation in front of a full house at Eden Park, a ground he made his own during the Cricket World Cup of 1992. Crowe became the third New Zealander to gain a place in the Hall, alongside Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley.

One of his last public appearances was at the New Zealand Cricket awards last April when he gave a heartfelt speech congratulating the retiring Daniel Vettori on his career.

Before the Cricket World Cup final Crowe penned an emotional column for espncricinfo.com, writing: "My precarious life ahead may not afford me the luxury of many more games to watch. So this is likely to be it. I can happily live with that."

For more on this story visit NZ Herald.