Jeffrey John Crowe (born 14 September 1958) is a former New Zealand

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er. He played

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

cricket for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

from 1983 to 1990, and

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

and then

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. He has been an ICC

match referee A match referee is an official appointed to oversee professional cricket matches. Match referees for Test matches and One Day Internationals are appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Most matches below international level do not ...

since 2004.

Early and personal life

Crowe was born in

, New Zealand. He is the son of

Dave Crowe David William Crowe (18 October 1933 – 12 May 2000) was a New Zealand cricketer who played three first class matches for Canterbury and Wellington between 1953 and 1958. He was the father of New Zealand international Test and One Day Inter ...

, and the elder brother of

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

. The Crowe brothers are cousins of Oscar-winning actor

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

, whose father John Alexander Crowe is the brother of Dave Crowe; their grandfather John Doubleday Crowe, emigrated to New Zealand from

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in Wales. He is also the great grandson of All Black Francis Jervis (his mother's maternal grandfather). Crowe's father played in three first-class cricket matches for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

between 1953 and 1957.

Domestic career

Crowe began his first-class cricket career at

, where he played from 1977–78 to 1981–82. There was a suggestion that he could play for the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

, but he returned to New Zealand in 1982–83 to play for Auckland, from with the hope of playing for New Zealand instead. He worked on his fielding, and also occasionally kept wicket. After a benefit season at Auckland in 1990–91, and one more domestic season, he retired from playing professional cricket at the end of the 1991–92 season.

International career

He was born just over 4 years before his younger brother Martin, but he made his Test debut for New Zealand in the First Test against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

in March 1983, just over a year after his brother. He scored his maiden Test century (128) in the Third Test against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in Auckland in February 1984. Playing against the dominant West Indies team in 1984–85, his team was following on 225 runs in arrears in the Fourth Test at Sabina Park in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...

, in May 1985. Crowe went in at number 3 in the second innings, with the score at 1–13. Against a fierce fast bowling attack that included

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a former Jamaican cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is a fast bowler and considered one of the all-time greats, best ...

, Malcolm Marshall and

Joel Garner Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams. Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC bes ...

, he scored his second Test century (112); but despite his heroics, New Zealand still lost by 10 wickets.4th Test: West Indies v New Zealand at Kingston, May 4-8, 1985
ESPNcricinfo. He was captain of the New Zealand cricket team for six Tests - a one-off Test against Sri Lanka at

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

in April 1987 (when he scored the third and last of his Test centuries, 120 not out in a drawn match) and then three on tour to Australia in December 1987, and finally two at home against England in February 1988. One of the matches against Australia was lost, and the other five were drawn. Crowe played his last Test against Australia at

in March 1990. He also played in 75 ODIs from 1983 to 1990, including the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ...

s in England in 1983 and in India in 1987.

After cricket

Crowe was manager of the

cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He ran a golfing holiday business in Florida for a period, and since 2004 he has been an ICC

, including the World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011. He is one of three people to have been referee in more than 75 Tests (the others are Chris Broad and Ranjan Madugalle) and one of four to have been referee in more than 220 ODIs (as well as Crowe, Broad, and Madugalle, the fourth is Roshan Mahanama). In January 2017 he refereed his 250th ODI match, when he officiated the fifth ODI between Australia and Pakistan at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby l ...

References

External links