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The time’s right, insists McCullum
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NEW Zealand captain Brendon McCullum expected to wake up today feeling “a bit dusty”, hopefully with his cricket gear still intact rather than ceremonially burnt to a cinder and looking ahead to not doing a lot.
The 34-year-old McCullum retired from international cricket after his side’s seven-wicket loss to Australia at Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday, which gave the visitors a 2-0 series win and propelled them back to the top of the world test rankings.
McCullum’s swan song was signalled last December after a chronic back injury finally forced him to acknowledge time was being called on his career.
“The time’s right. And now I walk away comfortable with my decision and looking forward to the next stage of my life,” McCullum said yesterday.
“You walk away knowing that you’ve been able to front up and try to go out there and get a performance on the board and I guess now you’re a little bit relieved.”
An aggressive batsman with a superb eye and fast bat speed, McCullum could rip apart any attack when the mood found him.
It was perhaps somewhat fitting that the mood found him in his finale, rescuing his side from 32 for three on the first day to blast the fastest test century ever witnessed, from 54 balls.
McCullum has acknowledged he would not go down as the best batsmen or cricketer in New Zealand’s history and the statistics prove that.
From 101 tests he finished with 6,453 runs, including 12 centuries, 31 half centuries and a test average of 38.68.
But his influence on the game since he assumed the captaincy in early 2013 is what many believe to be his legacy.
From a selfless innings that brought New Zealand’s first test triple ton against India in 2014 to a sheer determination in the field that exacerbated his back injury late last year and kept him out of several limited overs matches.
Most importantly though, was the change in team culture and performances under his stewardship that brought the crowds flocking back to the game after years of accepting mediocrity.
“Cricket in New Zealand is on a tremendous high,” former New Zealand fast bowler Richard Hadlee said at the end of the game. “That’s down to you fellows and the way you play the game.
“Brendon, it is an end to your career, the end of an era. You’ve been an inspirational captain.
“As the great Viv Richards said, ‘you’re the type of player that puts bums on seats, people will come down to watch you’ and I think that’s a tremendous tribute.”
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