Brendon McCullum has been in fine form at the Cricket World Cup.
Brendon McCullum has been in fine form at the Cricket World Cup.
You won't get Mensa membership for knowing this, but Australian pace bowler Josh Hazlewood has identified the early dismissal of Brendon McCullum as the key to dismantling New Zealand's quest for World Cup pool play glory on Saturday.
The right-armer, who regularly gets the ball hooping well into the 140km/hbracket, is, at 24-years-old, one of Australia's arsenal of aspiring quicks.
He has played nine one-day internationals, including the World Cup opener against England when he took none for 45 from 6.5 overs. He has 12 ODI wickets at 26.16 but, more importantly in the shorter formats, strikes every 32 balls with an economy rate of 4.81. His best of five for 31 came against South Africa in November on the fast-paced Perth wicket.
Hazlewood knows the importance of bowling effectively to an opening batsman prepared to risk astronomical dental bills in his desire to advance down the wicket and establish who's boss.
"A lot of the senior guys have seen him do his work in the IPL so we'll have team meetings to discuss a plan," Hazlewood said of McCullum.
"You're hoping he doesn't hit it straight back at you for starters. He's obviously a dangerous player who goes about his business differently to a lot of other openers. But there's no better practice than bowling to Finchy [Aaron Finch] and [David] Warner who are similar players.
"McCullum at the top of order is key. We want to minimise the damage he can do. The boundaries [at Eden Park] are a touch bigger square which we might be use to our advantage. It's quite short straight, but that's what happens when you come to different grounds. There are a few grounds in Australia like this such as [Sydney's] ANZ stadium so you've got to get used to it."
