Short-lived comeback for Crowe

Crowe had taken the cricketing world by surprise when he announced his comeback to first class cricket in New Zealand after a 16-year sabbatical.

In 1995, Crowe called time on a prolific career after a chronic knee injury took toll on his body. Crowe played 77 Tests and 143 ODIs for the black caps scoring 5,444 Test runs and his 17 centuries are still the most scored by a New Zealander in Tests.

But with Saturday’s pulled muscle being his fourth in as many months, Crowe said it was time to admit the dream was over.

“While getting off the mark yesterday, I pulled a thigh muscle running a normal single into the covers. So three balls into my first premier match back, it’s over,” Crowe said in an email sent to the media.

“It was sort of fun along the way. I got to hit lots of balls over five months, experiencing the joy of batting again. But as soon as it required the important running bit, the old problems kicked in. I have no regrets though,” Crowe was quoted as saying in New Zealand media.