New Zealand and England give new name to their rivalry, set to compete for The Crowe-Thorpe Trophy

The Crowe-Thorpe Trophy will be unveiled ahead of the first test of the upcoming series.

The New Zealand and England cricket boards have introduced a new chapter in their rivalry by introducing the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy for their bilateral test series.

The Crowe-Thorpe Trophy honors two cricketing legends of both countries – Martin Crowe (New Zealand) and Graham Thorpe (England).

The trophy is a mark of celebration of the careers of both legends. Hailed as New Zealand’s best batter, Martin Crowe averaged 45.36 with 17 centuries, whereas England’s Graham Thorpe, a great of his nation, scored 16 centuries with an average of 44.66.

The trophy is made from the bats used by Crowe and Thorpe during iconic moments of their careers. The trophy is designed by David Ngawati of Mahu Creative, who previously created the Tangiwai Shield for the New Zealand-South Africa test series.

The first test of the upcoming three-test series between England and New Zealand will take place in Christchurch from November 28. Martin’s sister Deb Crowe and former England captain Michael Atherton will unveil the trophy ahead of the start of the first test.

NZC and ECB on the The Crowe-Thorpe Trophy

The collaboration between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), along with the families of Crowe and Thorpe, has been pivotal in this initiative. Both boards expressed their gratitude towards the two legends.

NZC gave the information about the new trophy. The board said in their statement, “The England and BLACKCAPS Test teams will honour the late Martin Crowe and Graham Thorpe with a trophy named in the pair’s honour.“

“The bat gifted by the Thorpe family (a Kookaburra) is the one with which Graham scored his first two centuries against New Zealand, in consecutive Tests in 1997, while the one donated by the Crowe family was the GM with which Martin scored his century at Lord’s in 1994.” NZC concluded.

ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould said, “Martin and Graham are two legends of the game, and it is fitting that test series between our two men’s sides will now be contested in their name.”

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