First of all the most important news.

Martin Crowe's energy is low but there is spirit and clarity in his voice.

He speaks from Sydney where he is fulfilling a contractual obligation he signed up to before this foul disease invaded his body.

The Cricket World Cup has come along at a good time for Crowe because it is an uplifting experience and a distraction to his daily battle with terminal cancer.

He has been generous with his time throughout the tournament but needs to be careful he does not overdo it.

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Crowe deserves a pat on the back for it as well as his warrant of fitness check on Martin Guptill's batting that made 'Guppy' good again.

Crowe does not want the headlines, he is just chuffed that Guptill and his other batting project Ross Taylor are getting reward for their hard work.

Like the rest of us, Crowe was blown away by Guptill's unbeaten 237 against the West Indies in Wellington on Saturday, the second highest one-day score behind the 264 Rohit Sharma hit for India against Sri Lanka last year.

"It was a good day," Crowe says.

"These guys have done all the work, everyone needs a hand." Crowe sent Guptill a text of encouragement before the game and a congratulatory one after.

"It said 'OMG'," Crowe said.

"Which could also be read as Oh Marty Guptill but actually it meant Oh My Gap. We've talked a lot over the last few months about not looking at fielders, about looking at gaps.

"The more the mind is focused on gaps the more it will find them. I call him 'gap easy' to just remind him daily that that is his role." Listening to Crowe talk about the art of batting is a bit like Mozart explaining his music.

He says Guptill is a "good story" because firstly he had the courage to approach someone for help, in this instance, Crowe, and secondly he was prepared to strip his game back to the bare bones at the age of 28.

"It's a courageous move to rebuild at 28," Crowe said.

"He wants to be a successful test batsman and he made the right call at the right time."

Crowe pinpoints Guptill's athleticism at the crease as an under-rated strength.

"For a big lad he is very lithe and agile so it's just basics that were letting him down in the past, particularly in the test arena."

His other strengths lie in the fluency of his play, a stable base that allows him to hit straight and hard, a desperation drummed into him to deny the bowler success and tellingly the requirement to play straighter for longer early in his innings.

Guptill put most of those factors into play, save for the flick off the pads which saw him dropped at square leg on four.

Taylor used to make batting seem as natural as breathing, but these days he has gone from swan to ugly duckling to fulfil his end of the bargain within the New Zealand game-plan.

He is there to glue up any holes and advance the game to the point where New Zealand launch their final attack. His response has been to keep the ball on the ground at all costs and his release shot is the back cut.

"The only thing he needs to do is when the moment hits, like a power play or the last 10 overs, that he goes through the gears," Crowe said.

It nearly eventuated on Saturday, but Taylor was run out for 42 when the fun was about to start. New Zealand still rattled on 153 runs in the final 10 overs on the back of Taylor and Guptill's 143-run third wicket stand.

"While Guppy's year has been focused on change, Ross has been dealing with a war of attrition travelling around the world playing in the West Indies, India and the UAE," Crowe said.

"He has been slowly worn down. His game changes when that happens. He's become aware of all that. He's made the adjustments for this tournament and lets hope he can really express himself at the back end.

"I think he has had enough time in the middle now to express himself. The whole point is to peak at the back end and I think he can nail it."

The success of his two charges must be a tonic for Crowe, but he prefers to look beyond that.

"If it's helped the New Zealand team that I have been able to bring the two of them along then great," Crowe said.

"Like anyone I'd like us to get through our seventh semi. We are due."

But asked to pick a winner between New Zealand and South Africa on Tuesday in Auckland, Crowe said: "It is a hard one to pick. I've been backing these two sides all along. They are similar teams, similar balance. It is 50-50."

IN GUPTILL'S WORDS

Guptill is a man of few words but here's what he had to say after making a World Cup record 237 not out from 163 balls, including 24 fours and 11 sixes, against the West Indies in the quarterfinal on Saturday:

*On his record-setting innings: "I'm still not really sure what happened today to be honest, it hasn't sunk it yet. I'm incredibly proud of what happened and hopefully moving forward we can win another game and then another one after that so I'm pretty proud to get the runs and get another win."

On his two finger gesture to the dugout after striking a monster onto the Westpac Stadium roof: "That was to Macca [batting coach Craig McMillan]. He's hit one on the roof here and now I've hit two, so I've gone ahead of him."

The reaction from those around him: "Chris Gayle came up to me and said 'congratulations and welcome to the league'."

On his pre-game buildup: "I had a sleep in this morning and I had a late breakfast (bacon and eggs). I came down to the ground early and had a hit on the bowling machine with the coach (Mike Hesson) and did what I did, so nothing too special."

On whether he carried any lucky omens: "I'm not really that superstitious. I'll just try keep doing what I've been doing and take each ball as it comes and watch the ball and try and hit it."

On his level of nerves when sitting on 199: "Not too bad. You just have to watch the ball and I was lucky enough to get a half volley and hit it down the ground for a boundary, so I was pretty stoked at the time."

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