KEY POINTS:
Unless there has been a miracle of loaves and fishes proportions overnight, Brendon McCullum's second innings of 71 against England won't have made much of a dent in England's emphatic march to victory at Trent Bridge.
But it should influence his test future. Let's see what this miraculous
little man can really do by playing him as a specialist top order batter.
Our hopeless national cricket side needs a batting superstar and it's a crime to keep him in a dual role, even if that's what McCullum wants.
McCullum - the vice-captain and a tour selector - offloaded the wicketkeeping gloves for the test and batted at number three, ostensibly because of a back injury.
The television commentary team, including Ian Smith - who have been superb through this rain-interrupted series - seemed to suggest this may have been a convenience by which McCullum registered his wish to play as a specialist batter.
TV frontman David Gower and friends were a touch sceptical about the extent of McCullum's injury. They showed a series of clips of the little man flying through the air as a regulation fielder, like someone trying to get an injury rather than with one.
Observers, including the former New Zealand opener Mark Richardson, believe that McCullum is such an action man that he thrives on being involved with every ball and needs the dual role.
Fair comment undoubtedly, and yet the proof is not in the pudding because McCullum's talent should be producing more test runs than it does.
I can't find anything that sets out McCullum's views, but even if he wants to hang on to the keeping gloves, maybe his hand should be forced in the other direction. You're a world class batter of almost unique talents lad, now go out and prove it.
McCullum's batting may be the most prodigious single talent to have ever emerged in New Zealand cricket but this is being compromised because wicketkeeping is reducing his opportunity and even lowering horizons perhaps.
New Zealand doesn't produce enough world-class batters to use one that we do have as an allrounder. There is small but overwhelming evidence that the few players who have had this option experience a massive decline in their batting when also wicketkeeping. The glaring example is Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara, who averages 90 as a batter but 40 in the combined role.
By sparing McCullum the wicketkeeping duties, New Zealand will also save wear and tear and prolong his test career.
Under normal circumstances, you would argue against putting such a flamboyant technique at number three, and that might still be the case.
Then again, maybe we don't understand what McCullum is capable of, that we have here a bona fide genius who will push the boundaries beyond what was thought possible for a New Zealand player in a top order position. We shouldn't allow our modest history to shackle the future.
At the very least, McCullum should get a dedicated batter's chance at number five behind Ross Taylor, who is trying to cement his place as the dashing number four.
McCullum set himself for a big innings then scored at a decent pace and lasted three hours under pressure at Trent Bridge. New Zealand are forever trying to marshall limited resources, so these decisions aren't easy. But they need to raise McCullum's concentration, technique and above all his expectations.
At nearly 27, McCullum's test average of a touch over 30 is good, but nowhere near where it might be. Comparisons are made with Adam Gilchrist but Australia had other world-class top order batters. Gilchrist also fulfilled his potential down the order, averaging 47 and hitting 17 centuries.
Any risk is worth it in this case because when McCullum's test career ends, we must not be left wondering at what might have been. At the moment we are, and the demands of wicketkeeping may further erode his batting - as they did with Gilchrist - rather than enhance it.
* All power to the All Black players. You'll find no fiercer critic of the NZRU and Graham Henry than here, but considering the conditions it was a useful start to the season against Ireland. Richie McCaw was brilliant as ever, Dan Carter kicked superbly and showed he might not have lost his ability to pick the moments to run, and Neemia Tialata had a storming game. But all those empty seats told a story about the support - or lack of - for an All Black regime that should take a hike as far as I'm concerned.
As for Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll, he put on a sensational performance ... after the test. O'Driscoll looked like an Arctic explorer who'd forgot to pack his long johns when interviewed on the field by Sky's Tony Johnson. O'Driscoll's teeth were chattering so wildly that you felt tempted to make an urgent appointment for him with Daniel Flynn's dentist. Spies say O'Driscoll made a remarkably quick recovery moments later under the grandstand.
* Assistant Greg Cooper has followed coach David Nucifora in quitting the Blues, further clearing the decks for a Pat Lam/Shane Howarth combo to take over. Was Cooper pushed or did he voluntarily head for a short stint in Japan? This continues a remarkable coaching merry-go-round at the country's biggest Super 14 franchise. Cooper's appointment was a strange business in another case of the NZRU shuffling their under-contract coaches around. History will show that Cooper lasted one season in which little was achieved by his influence. It was always going to be that way.
* What a mighty test debut for new Springbok coach Pieter de Villiers. A team stacked with players of colour has put overrated Wales to the sword. The best way of developing rugby in the new South Africa is complex. Friends with strong links to the game there say that players of colour have been discriminated against by some coaches/selectors in the post-apartheid error. It's hard to know from this distance and a very subjective matter. But if those players can find a place in this new scheme it will be a wonderful day for South Africa and its sport. As for Wales - same old story. Every triumph - in this case the Six Nations - is followed by an inevitable and hopeless collapse.
