Crowe was born in Henderson, a suburb of Auckland, to a family of cricketers. His father, Dave Crowe, played first-class cricket for Canterbury and Wellington and his older brother, Jeff Crowe, played Test cricket. One of the brothers’ first cousins is actor Russell Crowe. In 1968, Martin Crowe joined his father and brother at the Cornwall Cricket Club, with which he maintained a lifelong connection. At Auckland Grammar School, which he attended from 1976 to 1980, he was deputy head boy in his final year. He captained the school’s cricket team, and also played rugby union, as a wing. He was also the great grandson of All Black Francis Jervis (his mother’s maternal grandfather).

Crowe made his first-class debut in January 1980, playing for Auckland against Canterbury. Aged 17 at the time, he scored 51 runs in his first innings, which was his team’s highest score. In 1981, having been named New Zealand’s Young Cricketer of the Year, Crowe was given the opportunity to spend six months on the ground staff of Lord’s, simultaneously playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club. Returning to New Zealand for the 1981–82 domestic season, he scored a maiden first-class century, making 150 runs against Canterbury. Crowe switched to Central Districts after the 1982–83 season. His career for Central Districts was limited by his international duties, but in 32 first-class appearances (from 1983 to 1990), he averaged 68.72, with 13 centuries. Crowe’s highest score for the team (and in all New Zealand domestic cricket) was 242, made against Otago in January 1990. That season was his last for Central Districts, as he transferred to Wellington prior to the 1990–91 season. In five seasons for Wellington, Crowe made only nine first-class appearances, the last of which came during the 1994–95 season.

Crowe made his international debut for New Zealand in February 1982, in a One Day International (ODI) game against Australia played at Auckland’s Eden Park. He made his Test debut at the end of the month, playing against the same team at Wellington’s Basin Reserve. At the time, only six New Zealanders had made their Test debuts at a younger age. At the 1983 World Cup in England, Crowe played in all six of his team’s matches, with only Geoff Howarth scoring more runs. His highest score was 97, made in the opening game against England. In January 1984, when England toured, Crowe scored his first Test century – 100 runs exactly.

In 1984, Crowe signed to play English county cricket with Somerset. He had great success in his first County Championship season, finishing second behind Vic Marks in Somerset’s averages and placing sixth for overall runs scored. However, Crowe did not return to the county until the 1987 season. In that year’s County Championship, he placed third in the overall averages (behind teammate Steve Waugh and Northamptonshire’s Roger Harper), and also placed third for overall runs scored (behind Graeme Hick and Graeme Fowler). Against Hampshire in the 1987 Benson & Hedges Cup (a limited-overs competition), he scored 155 not out from 119 balls, which was the highest one-day score of his career. Crowe returned for a final season at Somerset in 1988, but was able to play only a handful of matches. From 48 matches for Somerset, he finished with a first-class batting average of 59.46.

In 1985, Crowe made two scores of 188. The first came on a mid-year tour of the West Indies, with Crowe at the crease for 462 balls and over nine hours. The second came in an end-of-year tour of Australia, in a match that was better known for Richard Hadlee’s 15-wicket haul. In a Test against the West Indies in February 1987, Crowe and John Wright put on 241 runs for the third wicket, setting a new third-wicket record for New Zealand. Later in the year, Crowe played in the 1987 World Cup in India. He finished as New Zealand’s leading run-scorer, making three half-centuries from six matches, although his team struggled (winning only against Zimbabwe).

During his early career, Crowe was also often used as a “bits and pieces bowler”, with his “lively in-swingers” faring especially well in English conditions. He was regarded as an “outstanding” fieldsman, and against Zimbabwe in the 1987 World Cup dismissed David Houghton with an outstretched diving catch that was said to have won New Zealand the game. As a captain, Crowe was known for his use of innovative techniques, most notably opening the bowling with a spinner, Dipak Patel, at the 1992 World Cup. He often had highly developed bowling and fielding plans, regularly rotating his bowlers and changing his fields to put pressure on opposing batsmen. Former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja described Crowe as “an imaginative leader who maximised his team’s potential and resources by thoughtful captaincy and out-of-the-box tactics”.

Crowe was first appointed captain of New Zealand for a tour of Pakistan in October and November 1990. Before that point, he had been regarded as “captain designate” to John Wright, who was nearing the end of his international career. Crowe’s second series as captain came in early 1991, when Sri Lanka toured. In the first Test of the series, played in Wellington, Crowe scored 299 runs in his team’s second innings, setting a new record for the highest score by a New Zealander. He was at the crease for 523 balls and over ten hours, and scored 29 fours and three sixes. Crowe and Andrew Jones (who scored 186) put on 467 runs for the third wicket, setting a new record for the highest partnership in Test cricket. The pair helped New Zealand, behind by 323 runs on the first innings, to score 671/4 at the end of the final day’s play, which at the time was the highest score in the third innings of a Test.

In 1991, Crowe married Simone Curtice, an interior designer. They separated five years later, in 1996, and Crowe later entered into a relationship with Suzanne Taylor, with whom he had one daughter, Emma Crowe (born 2003). He and Taylor separated in 2005. In 2009, Crowe married for a third time, to Lorraine Downes, a former Miss Universe. They remained married until his death.

At the 1992 World Cup, which New Zealand co-hosted with Australia, Crowe finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 456 runs, and was named player of the tournament. One of his highlights was an innings of 100 not out in the opening match against Australia, which New Zealand won by 37 runs. In the tournament’s group stages, New Zealand lost only a single game, against Pakistan. They topped the table, qualifying for a home semi-final against the same team (their first finals appearance since the 1979 tournament). Crowe chose to bat first, and scored 91 runs from 83 balls to help his team to a total of 262/7. However, when Pakistan batted, he chose to stay off the field and rest an injured hamstring, with John Wright taking over on the field. Pakistan won the match by four wickets. Crowe largely blamed himself for his team’s loss, and in a 2014 article said that his decision not to take the field was “a curse that had tormented me for over two decades”.

In the 1992 New Year Honours, Crowe was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket. On 28 February 2015, Crowe was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was inducted in a ceremony during the lunch break of New Zealand’s win against Australia during the 2015 World Cup.

Crowe’s last series as captain of New Zealand came when Australia toured in February and March 1993. He had struggled with injuries for several years, and was replaced by Ken Rutherford to allow him to concentrate on his form. However, he returned as captain for one final match in November 1993, the first game of a series against Australia. In total, Crowe captained New Zealand in sixteen Tests, winning only two. He had a much better record in ODIs, with the team winning 21 out of 44 matches under his captaincy. Crowe was described by broadcaster Bryan Waddle as a “proactive rather than reactive” leader, who was “always prepared to be innovative”. He had a troubled relationship with the media throughout his captaincy, in one case using a press conference to confront a journalist who had published an article implying he had AIDS.

On 19 May 2011, Crowe commented on Twitter that he wanted to improve his fitness by setting a goal to play first-class cricket again. He cited that he was only 3 first-class matches away from 250 matches, and 392 runs short of 20,000 runs.

On 15 October 2012, it was revealed that Crowe had been diagnosed with lymphoma. He blamed the illness on a failing immune system, which had been weakened by various illnesses picked up while touring the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

On 5 June 2013, Crowe announced that he was free of cancer on Campbell Live, but he would cut his ties with cricket, as he was a self-proclaimed “recovering addict to cricket, much like an alcoholic”. Crowe says he wore a ‘mask’ from the age of 22, due to high expectations, but at the age of 51 was happy to ‘look at the real me’.

In 2014, Crowe announced that the lymphoma had returned and subsequently indicated that his chances of survival beyond 12 months were less than 5% and also of his wish to see the 2015 Cricket World Cup in February and March 2015. Crowe died of complications from the disease in Auckland on 3 March 2016. His funeral was held in Holy Trinity Cathedral in a Christian ceremony in Parnell, Auckland.