Crowe adds to a long list of failed comebacks

In the Guardian, Mike Selvey writes about New Zealand great Martin Crowe's failed attempt to return to competitive cricket. He says comebacks rarely work and are usually novelty one-offs.

For someone so long out of the game this was always going to be a pipe dream, even if Crowe did "rediscover the joy of batting" in his preparations. Players older than he have played Test cricket (the eldest, Wilfred Rhodes, was 52 when he played against West Indies in Jamaica in 1930), and others have turned out in the county game. In 1982, for example, Raymond Illingworth was 50 when he decided to replace Chris Old as Yorkshire captain. He led Yorkshire to the 1983 Sunday League title. The previous season, Fred Titmus, then almost 50, had turned up at Lord's for a pipe, a cuppa and a chat. He found himself playing against Surrey, taking three wickets.