Cricket: Rising star goes like a bat out of hell

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Brendon McCullum is making up for lost time.

Tagged by his coach as an under-performer in last year's under-19 World Cup cricket tournament in Sri Lanka, McCullum has paid his dues this year - and some.

The chief cook and bottlewasher in the New Zealand under-19 team - he is captain, wicketkeeper and leading batsman - McCullum could not have been more impressive in the first two youth tests against the touring South Africans.

His big-scoring and general play led coach Dayle Hadlee to predict that the Otago 19-year-old could replace the long-serving Black Caps' wicketkeeper, Adam Parore, in two or three years.



Hadlee shrugs off McCullum's poor Shell Cup and Trophy form going into the youth series, which New Zealand have already won with a 2-0 lead.

"At that level he was still a boy in men's cricket. Now he is a man among the boys and it shows."

McCullum scored 355 in the first two tests from exactly 355 deliveries.

"In the context of test cricket it seems a bit out of place," Hadlee said. "But he has played some sensational shots. He has led from the front in basically winning two tests for us."

Despite his amazing run - 123 in the first test in Alexandra and 186 and 46 not out in the second in Christchurch - Hadlee said there was no plan to move McCullum up the batting order.

"He bats at No 6 and that's where he will stay. In the first innings in Christchurch he kept it together as we put on 240 for the last three wickets."

But it is not just a case of turning up, turning the handle and watching the runs churn out.

Following Martin Crowe's lead from some years ago, McCullum prepares by being at the ground early and taking time in the middle to visualise his forthcoming innings from both ends of the pitch.

"It has worked for him and is something I'm keen to get him to talk through with other team members," said Hadlee, who had James Franklin as his captain in Sri Lanka last year and McCullum's older (by 12 months) brother Nathan as his deputy.

McCullum and brother Nathan are sons of former Otago batsman and sometime wicketkeeper Stu, who made 75 appearances and scored more than 3000 first-class runs. The pair have impressed new Otago coach Dennis Aberhart, who played much of his cricket at the same time as their father.

"They are similar sort of guys. Both enjoy their cricket, are enthusiastic and obviously have a future," said Aberhart. "I'm not surprised Brendon did so well in those tests. He is a very aggressive batsman but has been getting out in the 40s by playing poor shots. When he gets a big score he gets them quickly.

"He wants to learn and wants to do well. And, he is a good team guy. He was a natural to lead that side."

Nathan was 12th man for Otago in the just-finished Shell Trophy game against Auckland at Carisbrook, and retains a keen interest in Brendon's progress.

"I'm always proud to see him do well," said Nathan McCullum. "While he didn't do all that well in Sri Lanka, he became a senior player."

In the off-season the brothers have varied sporting interests.

Brendon initially made his mark on the soccer field but last winter switched to rugby to play first-five for the successful Kings' High School first XV.

Nathan has played for Caversham in soccer's Southern League. Their father also played soccer at that level and turned out at other times for the Pirates rugby club.

The family influence has played a role but without any push from their father who was an Otago cricket selector for a time before his sons made their debut last season.

"We used to watch dad play and when we were 10 or 11 we were fielded for the senior club team he played for."

And what of Brendon himself?

"I just felt it was my day," he said in reflecting on that amazing 186 - three sixes and 22 boundaries - at Lincoln.

"It was just a matter of going out and starting again after the innings I had in Alexandra.



"It was kind of crazy ... I Yeah, I was a bit tired at the end of the day."

Of his lack of success in trophy play this season - just 64 runs from two matches, he said: "I did not quite understand my roles in the Shell [Cup and Trophy] matches."

He certainly knows what he wants now.

If, as expected, he is invited to join New Zealand Cricket's academy intake, he will happily stay home this winter. Any overseas offers, he reckons, can wait.

Not for too long, one suspects.