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Sport Nation
Mark Greatbatch: From batting alongside Martin Crowe to NZC Presidency
Sport Nation • December 4th, 2025 1:24 pm
Mark Greatbatch back in 2010 while working as the Blackcaps batting coach | Photo: Dave Lintott/Photosport
During the Blackcaps' three-match Test series against West Indies, the Sport Nation Cricket team will have a number of special guests visiting the commentary box for The Cricket Lunch.
On the second day of the first Test at Christchurch's Hagley Oval, Daniel McHardy rolled out the red carpet for the newly elected president of NZ Cricket, Mark Greatbatch.
The veteran of 41 Test matches and 84 ODIs for New Zealand in an incredible career that spanned from 1988 to 1996, Greatbatch takes over from Lesley Murdoch at a time when NZC announced a $2.2 million profit, turning around what was a projected deficit of $6.8 million for the financial year.
"It was an honour to be asked - it took a little while to sink in and speak to a few people about the role and what it entailed," Greatbatch told Sport Nation.
"I was lucky enough through Lesley Murdoch, and a few others who've had the role and are people I admire and respect, thought that I could actually contribute a bit."
Based in Queenstown these days, the NZC President is finding more time to get involved with the game at a school level and lending a hand to the next generation of Kiwi cricketers coming through.
"I was watching a couple of schools play a two-day traditional match, which I loved. And I help a little bit out with local high schools now and again, which is nice to do to add a little bit of experience, my skills in coaching and talent ID.
"Hopefully I can watch it in a relaxed fashion and talk to parents and just get the pulse of the game.
"That's pretty important, that we're communicating with the stakeholders positively and sometimes you have to have some robust discussions, but that's really healthy for our game, because in the end you want the best for New Zealand Cricket."
In this in-depth interview across 21 minutes, McHardy also asks Greatbatch about growing up playing with the great Martin Crowe as an Auckland schoolboy, he recalls his transformation one summer to become fitter and selected for New Zealand's Test side where he scored 107 on debut against England, plus more career highlights.
Listen to the full interview below:
