The regal genius of Martin Crowe

Once-in-a-generation cricketers come by, well, once in a generation. Martin Crowe was one of them - a prince among batsmen.

With all due respect to Sutcliffe and Turner - and Hadlee and Chatfield too - New Zealand cricket may well be conceived of in terms of pre- and post-Martin Crowe eras. Such was the incandescence of his batting, such was the luminosity of his presence.

In decorum and demeanour, as well as in mastery of batting diction, Crowe stood tall as quite the consummate professional. His command of batting grammar and finesse with bat in hand was the stuff of cricketing poetry. If near-contemporaries Wright, Greatbatch and brother Jeff were workmanlike in their approach to eking out runs, Martin did it like a millionaire. He had cricket shots aplenty to spend and his ability to spot the ball early and contemplate the geometry of a cricket field gave him a regal flair.

Here was a player who knew the game like the back of his hand. Destiny waited to be scripted even as brain and brawn combined to dish out severe treatment to many an earnest delivery. The sports field was but a theatre and the King had to take centre stage. There were shades of his celebrated cousin Russell Crowe, except that Martin wrote his own scripts.

As captain, his imaginative approach to the 1992 World Cup ignited new possibilities in a satiated game. Indeed the unorthodox gambit of Dipak Patel opening the bowling rekindles many a memory. The slings of misfortune perhaps ambushed the ambition of holding the Cup. That said, Crowe's captaincy and cricketing skills embellished the cricket world down under.

Crowe, the elder statesman of the game, is credited with creating the forerunner to the nascent T20 form of the game. His articulate writings fondly recall his exploits at the batting crease and showcase his shrewd cricket brain and all-round personality.

Sadly, his life at the world's crease has been all too short, a magnificent Test innings abruptly abbreviated to a truncated T20 knock, as it were. Even as fans egged him on to stay, destiny willed otherwise. Brave in batting, his determination to stay the course shone as bright as many of his splendid battles at the crease, before the flame flickered one last time.

RIP Martin Crowe. The world of gentleman cricketers is poorer with your departure, but the cricketing heavens are now lit up with the radiance of your presence and craft.