Brendon McCullum's lethal ambush of the England bowlers at the Cake Tin the other day will no doubt have got the attention of the numerous coaching entourages around the tournament traps.
Each teams' "brains-trust" of tactical boffins, those charged with constructing plans to keep their teams' bowling efforts free fromrenegade attack, will have been sent scurrying for their iPads, sifting through footage and statistics, searching for possible leaks that might be used to dampen down the Black Caps skipper before he lights the fuse on another Catherine Wheel of an innings.
Not since Nathan Astle was in his pomp have we seen an opening batsman run at the new ball with such vigour and intent. Possessing the fast feet and heavy hands of a champion fighter, it's clear that McCullum loves the gladiatorial adrenalin rush of advancing wide-eyed and snarling at "the quicks".
The flagrant disregard for his own front teeth is matched only by his healthy disrespect for the reputations of the world's fastest and best, skipping down at them with mischief on his mind. The impish way that McCullum sometimes, before delivery, hops toward the bowler reminds me of a cheeky schoolboy stealing a few places forward in the tuck shop queue every time teacher turns his back. The use of two new balls at this tournament plays directly into McCullum's wheelhouse, too - because the harder and faster it comes at him the better he likes it.
Given the fearlessness and firepower that he exhibits against pace, I've no doubt that some teams will already be seriously considering opening with a spinner against him. It's a fact that mishits from a 140km/h delivery frequently carry to the rope, while against the slower ball they're not as likely to. This little scam has been used to good effect by a number of IPL sides in recent Indian summers, when Bazza has sometimes been slightly bamboozled by the mysteries of subcontinental spin.
Opening with a slow bowler poses different challenges for McCullum. Flummoxing him with "the twiddlers" relies heavily on several key aspects if it's to succeed however. Firstly, does the ground have half decent boundaries that will allow a mishit to be caught inside the boundary? Secondly, will the pitch offer a crumb of assistance to the poor blighter that's been volunteered to bowl loopy lobs at a rampaging southerner? And most importantly, does the bloke tasked with the job of defeating McCullum with deliveries of a genteel persuasion have the nerve and the skills to do it? From what I've seen of the spinners in this World Cup, I'd say not really.
That of course isn't to say that McCullum won't be defeated by a spinner. He does from time to time self-destruct against bowlers, so it could just as easily be an inferior slow. McCullum's Achilles heel is his impetuous nature and an unfettered enthusiasm for striking boundaries, which occasionally leads to a kamikaze-style dismissal.
Whichever way the white ball flies for the rest of the tournament you can bet McCullum is posing some late night research and development problems for the coaching cartels of the other teams.
