Above: McCullum is New Zealand's most devastating batsmen.
After months of speculation, Brendan McCullum has made his decision on whether or not to keep for New Zealand. He will still don the gloves in the 50 over version but he will no longer be New Zealand’s test glovesman. Citing injury issues and longevity concerns, it would appear that his decision would have been welcomed by cricket supporters around the country as it should extend his international (and yes, by default his IPL) career. Yet, the move has been viewed as suspicious by many who say that he is motivated by greed, to ensure he can reel in the IPL riches, which currently make him one of New Zealand’s best paid players.
Maybe he is being selfish. Maybe this decision will give him 2, 3 or 4 years more to garner IPL riches. But even if this is the case, who can blame him? New Zealand’s cricketers are poorly paid by international standards. Three more years in the IPL could mean an extra 3 million US dollars, enough to set him up for life. If, by giving up the gloves, his New Zealand career is extended by 2 or 3 years as well, I can’t see why he is being criticized. His knee and back problems have been well catalogued. Sportsmen have a short career and need to balance international commitments with financial realities. It is also a fact of professional sporting life that sportsman play where ever they can make big bucks, be it Brazilian football players in the European leagues, Russian ice hockey players in the NHL or New Zealand rugby players moving to Japan. Unlike the last situation, McCullum can chase the money in India and still represent New Zealand the rest of the year. Furthermore, the cry of selfishness doesn’t hold much stock if you stop to consider that he has played 208 consecutive games for New Zealand across the three formats. The upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka will be the first games McCullum has missed since 2004. Playing IPL hasn’t hindered his ability to play for his country (apart from a couple of warm-up games following IPL 2).
Others argue that McCullum will never make it as a specialist batsman. While this would be true for many of the other top test playing nations, McCullum easily ranks as one of New Zealand’s four best batsmen at the moment (alongside Taylor, Ryder and Vettori). He can easily obtain and maintain a place in the top 6. The question is not if he can, more where he should bat?
His ideal position would seem to be at 5 or 6, where his counterattacking potential, could be best utilized. Another intriguing option would be to ask him to bat in the top 3, as an attacking opening batsman (the role he plays in ODIs and T20s) ala Sehwag or at three, a perennial problem spot for New Zealand and a position he has had some success in before. This may be the chance to see if McCullum can reach the world class potential he exhibited as an age-group player. His test batting appears to have turned a corner and has become more consistent, although the tendency to throw his wicket away through poor decision-making can still confound. He averaged almost 60 in New Zealand’s last home season, scoring 2 centuries and 3 fifties from 11 innings. At times, he showed the ability to play with good judgement and care whilst at other times, he played fine, counter attacking innings that changed the momentum of the game. Significantly, he scored his first test century against Australia to go with a test century against India the previous year. Critics would point out that he has a poor average against teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (3 of his 5 test centuries have been scored against these two teams). However, the two centuries against India and Australia suggest that he is capable of playing fine test innings against quality attacks.
His ideal position would seem to be at 5 or 6, where his counterattacking potential, could be best utilized. Another intriguing option would be to ask him to bat in the top 3, as an attacking opening batsman (the role he plays in ODIs and T20s) ala Sehwag or at three, a perennial problem spot for New Zealand and a position he has had some success in before. This may be the chance to see if McCullum can reach the world class potential he exhibited as an age-group player. His test batting appears to have turned a corner and has become more consistent, although the tendency to throw his wicket away through poor decision-making can still confound. He averaged almost 60 in New Zealand’s last home season, scoring 2 centuries and 3 fifties from 11 innings. At times, he showed the ability to play with good judgement and care whilst at other times, he played fine, counter attacking innings that changed the momentum of the game. Significantly, he scored his first test century against Australia to go with a test century against India the previous year. Critics would point out that he has a poor average against teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (3 of his 5 test centuries have been scored against these two teams). However, the two centuries against India and Australia suggest that he is capable of playing fine test innings against quality attacks.
Another criticism and one that has some validity is the loss of his all-round capability and the balance he brings to the side. However, the improved batting of Vettori would mean that the new keeper would be able to slot in at 8 and maybe even at 9 if James Franklin ever rediscovers his bowling zip. A number of candidates, not in the class of McCullum, but competent nonetheless are available. Of these, Gareth Hopkins would appear the best. Hopkins, a tidy keeper, has fashioned a solid first class batting record and in recent matches for New Zealand, both his batting and keeping have improved.
New Zealand has had a long history of players evolving and changing roles throughout their career. This maybe reflects the limited player pool in the country or maybe reflects another unquantifiable quality. However, several players in recent history have re-defined their role in New Zealand teams. Vettori has gone from being a specialist spinner to being one of the world’s top all-rounders. Nathan Astle went from batting 11 for Canterbury in a Shell Trophy final to being a stalwart of the New Zealand batting line for a decade. Likewise, Mark Richardson evolved from a left arm spinner to becoming the best test opener New Zealand has had since John Wright. The relinquishing of the gloves also has recent precedents. Adam Parore and Bryan Young both went from being wicketkeepers to specialist batsmen (although Parore did return to keeping at the end of this unsuccessful experiment) and neither were truly world-class batsmen. McCullum, on the other hand, could be. He could draw inspiration from two recent wicketkeeper/batsmen whose batting was dramatically improved without the additional burden of keeping. Alec Stewart and Kumar SangakkaraMcCullum, New Zealand has a batsman of potential world class, with a solid technique and the ability to dominate even the best attacks. Doesn’t the New Zealand cricketing public owe it to themselves and to McCullum to celebrate this decision and see if he can go from being a merely good international batsmen or can he make the jump and become one of New Zealand’s great test players.
P.S. As an aside, McCullum did open the batting for NZ in the tests in India. He made 370 runs, including an outstanding double century. While it doesn’t mean he’s made it, its certainly an encouraging start to his top order career.
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