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PHOTOS: A final goodbye to Martin Crowe...

March 11, 2016 10:59 IST

IMAGE: The pall bearers including actor and cousin Russell Crowe carry the casket after the funeral service for Martin Crowe, in Auckland, on Friday. Former New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe passed away last Thursday, aged 53. Photograph:Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.

Cricket greats honoured Martin Crowe at an emotional funeral for New Zealand's greatest batsman, on Friday, with his cousin, Hollywood star Russell Crowe, acting as a pallbearer.

The actor made the trip to New Zealand with his children. He did not address the service but after Crowe's death tweeted: "My champion, my hero, my friend. I will love you forever."

IMAGE: Wife Lorraine Downes, centre, and family after the funeral service for Martin Crowe. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.

He helped carry a casket bearing a giant inlaid silver fern to a hearse outside the cathedral as students from Crowe's former school Auckland Grammar performed a haka.

IMAGE: Auckland Grammar students perform a haka after the funeral service for Martin Crowe. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.

Mourners packed Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral to remember Crowe, who died on March 4 aged 53 after a long battle with cancer.

IMAGE: Black Cap Daniel Vettori, left, after the funeral service for Martin Crowe. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.

The batsman's brother Jeff, himself a former Black Caps captain, said the family had been touched by the outpouring of grief from across the cricketing world.

IMAGE: Sir Richard Hadlee after the funeral service for Martin Crowe. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.

Former team-mates shared memories of a player who averaged 45.36 despite being plagued by injury in his 77-Test career, hitting 17 centuries -- still a New Zealand record.

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