Cricket: The man behind the Martin Crowe letter

Danyal Rasool has always had a soft spot for New Zealand cricket. Photo / Supplied

Martin Crowe is widely recognised by New Zealanders as the country's greatest batsman, but it took a 22-year-old Pakistani cricket fan to remind us of what he means to the game in general.

Danyal Rasool penned a heartfelt open letter to Crowe which was published on the Herald's website last week - click here to read it in full. The letter hit a nerve amongst readers, and was shared on social media more than 11,000 times.

Crowe, who played 77 tests and 143 one-day internationals for New Zealand, has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer in the form of a rare blood disease called double-hit lymphoma. Rasool wrote of his "dismay" upon hearing of the diagnosis.

One of the intriguing things about Rasool's epistle is his total remove from Crowe's playing career. He was too young to have seen Crowe in action in any of the iconic innings he is known for - the hundred against Australia in the 1992 World Cup, for instance, or the 299 against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve.

Instead, Rasool, who lives and studies in Montreal, came to know Crowe through his regular columns on the Cricinfo website. The columns have become must-reads for cricket tragics everywhere, providing regular water-cooler fodder for offices and workplaces all around the world, as evidenced by the international reach of the reader comments they receive.

"As someone who deeply loves the game," wrote Rasool in the letter, "it is inordinately easy, and not a little moving, to see how much you care about this wonderful sport."

Rasool was borne in Lahore and grew up there following Pakistan's cricketing fortunes. But he wasn't blinkered in his support - his true love, like Crowe's, was for the game as a whole.

"I just became obsessed with international cricket around the world, spotting players from various countries that I liked, deciding what teams after Pakistan were my favourites," Rasool told the Herald.

The New Zealand team was always near the top of that list, for reasons not necessarily related to cricketing prowess.

"Some of my favourite cricketers have been Kiwi, and [unlike] the lads from across the ditch, they're so thoroughly polite. Watching New Zealand play cricket reminds you why it used to be called 'the gentleman's sport'."

In his letter, Rasool also referred to Crowe's recent induction into the ICC Hall of Fame. The moving ceremony took place during a break in play in the Black Caps' extraordinary win over Australia at Eden Park recently. The outpouring of emotion from the crowd was palpable as over 40,000 people rose to their feet to give Crowe a standing ovation as he left the field.

"Your humility would tell me you're a Kiwi long before your accent would," Rasool wrote. "You looked almost embarrassed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ceremony ... The only reason I wasn't loudly cheering in front of the TV was that I had welled up."

Rasool says the ceremony provided the inspiration for him to pen the letter.

"I decided I wanted to put my feelings into a letter that I had to imagine would somehow get to Martin Crowe. Imagining Martin standing in front of me reading it was the inspiration to try and write as sincerely as I could," he says.

Rasool has no way of knowing whether Crowe has read his letter. All he can do is hope it got through, and reaffirm his basic message.

"Once more, from the heart, I wish him well."

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