Adam Parore seemed to get all the kudos, but his former Auckland teammate Chris Drum slipped quietly from test cricket this week for reasons similar to Parore's and intends to head to the other side of the world.
Drum, 27, completed his fifth test in the 78-run win over England on
Wednesday with three for 52 in the second innings as New Zealand dismissed the tourists for 233.
He bowed out of test cricket with 16 wickets from five matches with his accurate swing bowling, his final three victims being Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Caddick.
Drum announced during the test that he was retiring and will head for England to link up with long-time partner Kushla McIndoe, who is a veterinarian in London.
As with Parore, who also played the last of his 78 tests, Drum said there was more to life than being a professional cricketer.
"I'm only likely to be playing test cricket for New Zealand, and with six test matches in the next year, I can't rely on income from just that.
"My passion for the game hasn't gone but there are other things outside it I want to achieve.
"If I wait 12 months I could be in the same position, and that's not heading forward."
Drum has a degree in property management and, after devoting the last two years to cricket, he will look for work overseas.
He was disappointed not to play in the one-day tri-series in Australia in January but was achieving his main goal of becoming a consistent member of the test side.
"I decided to give it one more crack. I gave up working two years ago to play cricket fulltime, to have a final go and see where I could get to.
"I've certainly got no regrets. Auckland won the State Championship and I had a good summer, with 50 wickets."
For Drum the test at Eden Park was a fond farewell to a brief international career on his home ground.
Meanwhile, Craig McMillan has moved to his highest world test ranking after the series against England.
McMillan has jumped seven places to 12th on the PricewaterhouseCoopers test ratings released yesterday.
He is the top-ranked New Zealand batsman. Player of the series Nathan Astle climbed two places to 19th.
Third test bowling hero Daryl Tuffey made the most staggering leap on the world test bowling ratings, climbing from 62nd to 27th.
But New Zealand opener Mark Richardson slipped three places to 20th on the batting list, and captain Stephen Fleming plummeted to 42nd, his lowest rating in years. Parore rose six places to end his career as test cricket's 59th best batsman.
Sachin Tendulkar of India remains the world's top test batsman ahead of the West Indies' Brian Lara.
Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan is top bowler ahead of Australia's Glenn McGrath. Chris Cairns is 11th, Daniel Vettori 23rd, Dion Nash 26th and Drum 57th.
- NZPA
Adam Parore seemed to get all the kudos, but his former Auckland teammate Chris Drum slipped quietly from test cricket this week for reasons similar to Parore's and intends to head to the other side of the world.
Drum, 27, completed his fifth test in the 78-run win over England on
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