Former New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe diagnosed with cancer

Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe, 50, has been diagnosed with lymphoma, an invasive cancer of the immune system.

Crowe made his test debut just at the age of 19. He scored more than 5,400 test runs at an average of 45. His 17 centuries are still the most by a New Zealander at Test level.

Crowe played 77 tests and 143 one-day internationals for New Zealand between 1982 and 1995. He is best remembered for captaining the Kiwis to the semi-final of the 1992 World Cup on home-soil.

A persistent knee injury cut short his career and he was forced to retire from international cricket in 1996, aged just 33.

Louise Henderson, a close family friend and manager to Crowe and his wife, former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes, said the family has a number of issues to confront over the next couple of weeks.

“The diagnosis is very new, the family is still in shock and obviously dealing with the understanding that life as they know it for the unforeseeable future is different,” Henderson was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald.

Crowe was named as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1985, and his 299 against Sri Lanka in 1991 remains the highest Test score by a New Zealand player.