by 
Legendary England batsman Graham Thorpe, who died this summer, is set to be honored with the naming of a new trophy for the winner of the England-New Zealand Test series.
The two nations first played Test cricket against each other in 1930 and their governing bodies are working on a plan to commemorate a great batsman from each side – Thorpe and New Zealand’s Martin Crowe – who largely contributed to the history of the meeting and died young.
The new trophy, which is now said to be made in New Zealand, will come into effect for the next series between the teams which begins on November 27. It should be called the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy.
Former Black Caps captain Crowe was arguably New Zealand’s greatest batsman, averaging 45 in 77 Tests between 1982 and 1995. Also becoming one of the game’s great thinkers as a writer and commentator , he died in 2016, at the age of 53, after three years. fight against lymphoma.
The cricketing world was shocked to its core when Thorpe took his own life in August this year. He played 100 Tests for England, averaging 44.7, and later became a popular coach of the national team.
Thorpe saved some of his best innings for New Zealand, against whom he averaged 53.2. He made a quarter of his 16 Test tons against the Black Caps, including his highest Test score of 200 not out in Christchurch in 2002.
Crowe had a good record in matches against England, averaging 40.6, including five centuries. The two men never played against each other but shared the respect of supporters of opposing nations.
The two teams meet in a three-Test series in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton. There is a friendly rivalry between the teams, the last meeting of which was a one-point victory for New Zealand at Basin Reserve in 2023. England are coached by Brendon McCullum, a New Zealand legend, and managed by Ben Stokes, born in Christchurch to Kiwi parents (his mother, Deb, lives in town).
This decision was reportedly motivated by Cricket New Zealand. Earlier this year, it was announced that future Test series between New Zealand and South Africa would be played for the Tangiwai Shield. This trophy poignantly commemorates the events of 1953, when on Christmas Eve a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed under a Wellington-Auckland night train, killing 151 people on board. It was the worst rail disaster in New Zealand.
Among the dead was Nerissa Love, the fiancée of Bob Blair, a 21-year-old bowler who was playing for New Zealand against South Africa in Johannesburg at the time. While Blair initially remained at the hotel as the match continued without him, he appeared to bat at the fall of New Zealand’s ninth wicket, stunning the crowd. Blair is still alive and living in Cheshire.
England already play for a number of trophies, the Ashes being the most famous. Against India, they play for the Pataudi Trophy at home and the Anthony de Mello Trophy away. Against the West Indies they play for the Richards-Botham Trophy, which replaced the historic Wisden Trophy in 2022, and against South Africa they play for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy.
