For a man who?s had to wander around in another person?s clothes for more than 24 hours because his luggage is stuck in Philadelphia, Jeff Crowe was in a surprisingly chirpy mood.

In Bermuda to assess the infrastructure of the Island?s leading cricket grounds, the former New Zealand Test batsman had been at work all morning in an tight-fitting, crumpled T-shirt borrowed from Bermuda Cricket Board chief executive Neil Speight and a pair of tatty looking blue trousers.

But he seemed to be taking the inconvenience very much in his stride as he sat down for a spot of lunch at North Rock at the foot of Collector?s Hill ? springing to his feet to assist the cameraman before adopting a number of theatrical poses with the lens upon him.

His sun-kissed face, a result of countless rounds of golf in Florida where he now resides with his American wife, is partially obscured by a pair of dark sunglasses while his demeanour, as is often the case with so many people from Down Under, is decidedly ?matey? and relaxed.

As one of the International Cricket Council?s elite officials, Crowe travels the world as a match referee for both Tests and One Day Internationals.

This ?venue inspector? gig is a relatively new development for him however, and he has only conducted a couple of trips overseas so far ? though he expects these to increase dramatically as the World Cup nears and the need to ensure the host grounds are in pristine condition intensifies.

Crowe?s blood ties are undeniably impressive. Not only is he the elder brother of undisputedly the greatest batsman New Zealand have ever produced (that?s Martin Crowe in case you didn?t know, he of the 17 Test hundreds and 19,608 first class runs) he is also the cousin of Oscar winning actor Russell ? or ?Rusty? as he calls him.

?Our fathers are brothers and we grew up together,? he said.

?He?s actually a pretty useful cricketer ? he bowls in the style of Dennis Lillee and is a very, very determined batsman. When we were spending a lot of time together growing up, Rusty was more of a rock wannabe than an actor ? particularly when he was 16 or 17 years of age. He played the guitar and sang and actually recorded an album once where he dedicated a couple of songs to my brother and I.

?We supported him at the time because he was pretty good, but we never had any idea that he was going to go on and become some sort of acting genius. He was always a very interesting and resourceful sort of guy and when he eventually tried his luck in Hollywood he got some terrific breaks and now he?s a superstar.?

They are still regularly in touch on the phone and by e-mail, while Jeff once famously called on the services of his illustrious cousin when he was manager of the Kiwi Test team in 2002.

?It was just before the tour to Australia when they were pretty much at their peak,? he explained.

?I persuaded him to come along to one of the team meetings before the tour started just to talk to the guys about his achievements. I thought it would give them a lift. He only spoke for a few minutes but it was very effective. The basic message was that anything is possible in life and to prove it he suddenly produced his Oscar. It was a pretty classic moment which the players loved.?

Born in Auckland in 1958, Crowe was raised in a home directly adjacent to a cricket ground called Cornwall Park.

Both Crowe brothers were excellent sportsmen and played a variety of sports to a very high level ? though cricket was always number one.

Even as kids, the incredible ability of his brother ? some four years his junior ? was obvious and Crowe recalled with no little humour the ferocious sibling battles that punctuated their formative years.

It doesn?t take much research to see that the difference in their respective talents was vast ? perhaps on a par with the gap between tennis? McEnroe brothers.

Crowe was adamant, however, that his career was never adversely affected by living in his brother?s considerable shadow.

??I never really worried about trying to be as good as him because I just couldn?t be,? he said.

?He was so comfortably better than everybody else that the last thing I needed to be worrying about was trying to match him. I used to get a lot of pleasure out batting with him actually and as long as I was holding up an end and doing a job then I was happy.

?That?s not to say we?re not both very competitive with each other. I think I?ve still got the scars from some of the scraps we used to get into when we were very young.

?Even now when we play golf, we might exchange a few words on the first hole, but we won?t speak to each other again until the 18th because we are so determined to beat one another. We used to play cricket together in the back garden when we were kids and if I lost the toss he?d bat for about three weeks and I?d have to keep going to fetch the ball back!?

In 36 Tests, Crowe scored a total of 1,601 runs at a somewhat modest average of 26.24. His first class record was rather more impressive, racking up over 10,000 runs in a career spanning 15 years and 180 matches.

From 1977 to 1982, Crowe played state cricket for a South Australian team decimated by the absence of big name players such as David Hookes and Ian Chappell, who had been seduced by Kerry Packer?s millions and World Series Cricket.

It was a chance he grabbed with both hands, scoring heavily and cementing a regular place. He even became eligible to represent Australia and would have been in the minds of the national selectors at the time.

But after much soul-searching, he decided to return home in ?82 to try and represent the country of his birth.

Crowe is the first to admit that he was not a great Test match player ? though he did captain his country on six occasions ? and that he might have been better had he carried on scoring runs in the more cut-throat cricketing environment across the Pacific ocean.

There were highlights of course, including his courageous 112 standing up to the West Indian quicks at Sabina Park, Kingston, when his team were following on during their 1984-85 series defeat.

Overall however, he struggled to impose himself consistently on bowlers of the highest calibre.

?I look back on my Test statistics with some disappointment,? he said.

?I was never really comfortable with my game at Test level. I was a confident first class player and I think my record shows that but the gap between the first class game and Test level, particularly in New Zealand, is quite big and I never really made the transition. After four years with South Australia, I had to decide whether to stay and make myself available for selection for Australia or go home to try and make the team there.

?I was desperate to play international cricket and the fact was that as a Kiwi, I would have had to score squillions of runs before they would even consider me for selection.

?So I decided to go home to play first class cricket and try to get in the New Zealand team. The standard was not as good and the wickets did a lot more, but it was a route into the international arena which I don?t regret taking. Looking back, my game probably suffered. I loved everything about my time in Australia.

?The wickets were good and the cricket at a state level was played very hard. I think my technique became a lot looser by going back home where things were a little more laid back.?

Crowe retired in 1992, having played his last Test match two years previously against the old enemy Australia at Wellington?s Basin Reserve ground.

For the next few years he divided his time between stints in the television commentary box and developing a golf tour company, before returning to the fold as the popular team manager of the New Zealand team.

For the past two years, the 47-year old Crowe has been working for the sport?s world governing body, as one of five referees who supervise all Tests and One Day Internationals.

He has developed a solid reputation in the latter role, commanding the respect of the players and the umpires alike while not shirking his responsibilities when there are punishments to hand down for breaches of the ICC?s strict Code of Conduct.

?I?m enjoying the job immensely,? he said.

?I?ve only been full time for about 12 months but it involves between 150 and 200 days a year travelling around the world. It?s absolutely fantastic ? there is such variety in the job and I love being exposed to the different cultures, whether its on the subcontinent or back in the UK.

?It?s a difficult job to be sure and you have to strike a balance between being open and friendly with the players and coming down on them when they are in breach of the rules.

?There?s no question as a match referee you have to be a former player because the guys have to be confident in your understanding of what is happening out there on the park. That would be very difficult to achieve unless you have played at that level yourself.

?I enjoy inspecting grounds as well. Because I now live in Florida, it is easier for the ICC to fly me out to the Caribbean than anywhere else so it looks like I?m going to be the man doing a lot of their work in this region. I was in St. Kitt?s last week looking at how their ground for the World Cup is coming along and now I?m here in Bermuda.

?It?s a beautiful place no question and from what I?ve seen so far there is plenty of potential here but there needs to be quite a bit of work done on the grounds before they are in line with ICC requirements. But qualifying for the World Cup was a pretty impressive achievement for such a small place and it looks like you guys are heading in a positive direction.?