'Hogan' recalled more as a fantastic person

Blair Furlong.

New Zealand cricket will be "poorer for it" with the loss of Martin Crowe.

"It's very sad. He was a great cricketer and a wonderful person," former Central Districts CEO Blair Furlong, of Napier, said last night.

Out playing golf, Furlong didn't know Crowe had lost his battle with cancer yesterday but he, wife and former Napier deputy mayor Kathie Furlong, and incumbent CD chief executive Chris Lander and CD administrator Scott Briasco will represent the major association at his funeral in Auckland on Friday next week.

"I had a lot of time for him. He was a good man and a good captain who stood up for his players," he said.

He said people felt alienated from Crowe because they didn't know him as a person.

"I used to have people writing books ring me up to ask me about him. They thought I'd slag him off but when I told them how good he was they'd hang up on me."

The Furlong family billeted Crowe during his numerous stints for CD.

"My children just loved him," he said of Crowe who played for Taradale CC premier men's team in the 1980s.

"The year before I took over, CD won the Plunket Shield with Hogan [Crowe]. He was just a fantastic cricketer but I remember him more as a fantastic person," he said, revealing Crowe picked up the nickname because Hogan's Heroes was his favourite TV programme.

Furlong said Crowe always had CD at heart even though he was quite young when he arrived here to help the major association become a professional outfit.

Crowe's prowess was so dominant that during domestic matches teammates dubbed the "player of the day" award "Martin of the Day".

Briasco said Crowe's parents, Audrey and Dave, and brother Jeff were always "a tight family unit" when it came to supporting him in his cricket.

"Not too many people know it but he has a sister - I don't remember her name - but she was living in Norfolk Island," he said.