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Brendon McCullum may be best known for his savage strokeplay in the one-day game, but he remains one of the finest wicketkeeper/batsmen in the world cricket
Only Mark Boucher, Kumar Sangakkara and Kamran Akmal among current wicketkeepers have scored more Test runs than McCullum, who is set to win his 50th cap for New Zealand in the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hamilton next week.
Seddon Park was, in fact, the venue for McCullum’s Test debut in 2004, when he served notice of his promise with a half-century at number eight.
He passed 50 in four of his first five matches and, although he endured a lean spell in 2006-07, a commendable career average of 32.12 reflects his value to a BLACKCAPS side.
That may not compare favourably with the likes of wicketkeepering legends Andy Flower (52.94) and Adam Gilchrist (47.60), nor contemporaries such as MS Dhoni, Matt Prior and Brad Haddin, all of whom average around 40, but that owes much to the uninhibited manner in which McCullum goes about his cricket.
It is a measure of his enduring threat that his wicket remains so highly prized by the opposition, who are all too aware of the damage he can wreak in a short space of time.
McCullum managed just 28 runs in three ODIs against Bangladesh, but the Tigers need look no further than his last Test innings for a reminder of his potency: 89 off just 103 balls against Pakistan in December.
