It is not hard to believe that New Zealand Captain, Brendon McCullum, has had a year to remember in terms of his cricketing career. Hailed as one of the most aggressive captains in cricket, Baz (as he is known to his fellow players and coaching staff) has been leading from the front, making 2014 a year that Blackcaps supporters will struggle to forget.
In February, McCullum gave us an early taste of what we were to expect as the year continued. New Zealand were hosting India in their second test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Despite the test ending in a draw, it didn’t stop McCullum from scoring a monstrous 302 in the third innings of the match. This made him the first Kiwi batsman to score a triple century. Adding to this record, his partnership with BJ Watling (accumulating 352 runs) became the record for the longest standing sixth wicket partnership. When McCullum finally brought the innings to an end at 680/8d, it was the highest innings made by a New Zealand team and the highest third innings total in test cricket.
Fast forward to November, McCullum made his presence known against Pakistan, when he smashed 202 at Sharjah cricket stadium. What sets this innings apart, however, was the situation these two teams found themselves in. Reeling over the tragic death of Phil Hughes, McCullum displayed immense emotional and mental strength to perform the way he did and lead his team to victory. For me, this is the performance that stands out as his best, if not the best, for the entire year.
But McCullum was not done. Enjoying the break that Christmas offered, he came back in the Boxing Day test at Hagley Oval against Sri Lanka to score a lightning quick 195 runs off 134 balls. During this spectacle, McCullum managed to break his own record (which was set in the UAE the previous month) by scoring the quickest test century, which he managed in just 74 balls.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that McCullum also holds the honours of becoming the first NZ player to reach 1000 test runs in a calendar year and sits fourth on the list for the year’s “run-getters”, despite playing fewer tests than the top three players. If this is not enough, he also managed to pick up his first test level wicket when he snatched the wicket of Pakistan batsman, Sarfraz Ahmed with a caught-and-bowled.
True to character, McCullum is the first to praise the talents of his own team. In a recent interview, Baz attributes the revival of the Blackcaps to a dismal tour of South Africa they undertook roughly two years ago, where they were bowled out for a mere 45 runs in their first innings at Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town; a test match they went on to lose by an entire innings and then some. As a Blackcaps fan and someone who witnessed this in the flesh, I can assure you it was not a pretty sight.
It seems, however, that this was exactly what the team needed. Since then, we have seen a reformed team take the field with a stronger bowling line-up and a far more positive mentality. The numbers speak for themselves. The Blackcaps played nine tests this year, winning five, losing two and drawing two, making it the most successful year they have ever had.
Call it a biased opinion or an optimist one, but the World Cup next year is looking very positive in terms of New Zealand’s chances of going all the way. If McCullum can keep his performance on the level he has reached now, his team will find it easy to fall into place and mimic their feisty leader.
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