New Crowe-Thorpe Trophy honours cricket legends

CHRISTCHURCH: The England and New Zealand cricket teams will now compete for the Crowe-Thrope Trophy when the two sides face off in the first test of three which kicks off on Thursday, November 28.

The two sides will compete in three tests beginning on November 28 and ending on December 18. However, this latest series will be the first to be played under the new ‘Crowe-Thrope Trophy’ name. The decision was made by the England and Wales Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket in order to honour Martin Crowe and Graham Thorpe, two legends of the sport. 

The trophy itself was made from the wood of the two players’ bats. Crowe’s bat is the one he used to score a century against England in 1994, while Thorpe’s bat is the same one he used to score two consecutive centuries against New Zealand in 1997. 

The ceremony revealing the trophy will happen on the first day of the first test, and will be attended by Crowe’s sister and former test cricketer and current broadcaster Michael Atherton.

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PROLIFIC CAREERS

Martin Crowe is a legendary New Zealand batsmen who passed in 2016 at the age of 53 due to lymphoma. He had a illustrious test career, in which he scored 5444 runs, during which he made 18 half centuries and 17 centuries. At the end of his career, he was New Zealands highest run scorer in tests, and had made the most centuries in the format out of all his country’s batsmen. Even today, he is third in most centuries scored out of all New Zealand players in tests, and has the sixth most runs scored in the format out of his compatriots. 

Graham Thorpe had an equally incredible career as the batsman represented England in 100 tests. Thorpe began his career in emphatic fashion, scoring a century in his debut against Australia. He went on to score 15 more centuries in the format, along with 39 half centuries. He scored a total of 6744 runs throughout his test. Thorpe tragically took his own life earlier this year. 

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