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