Former England Test player turned commentator Mike Selvey has lauded praise on New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum for leading the way with a remarkable innings against Sri Lanka to cap a remarkable year for the team.
McCullum hit a blistering 195 runs against Sri Lanka as he helped New Zealand grab the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka with a day to spare.
Selvey stated that it was heartening to see Test cricket return to Christchurch last week, almost four years on from the earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed the heart of that lovely city.
The former paceman claimed in his column for The Guardian that it was fitting, too, that New Zealand should mark the return to Christchurch with a resounding win over Sri Lanka.
Selvey further said that it was also fitting that McCullum led the way with a remarkable innings to cap a remarkable year even by the standards of a cricketer already regarded as exceptional.
Selvey stated that McCullum arrived at the crease with New Zealand, put in to bat, at 88 for three and scored the fastest ever hundred by a New Zealander, from 74 balls, albeit eclipsing his own record.
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He added that nor did the skipper finish there, claiming that when McCullum was caught at long-off for 195, from 134 balls, the New Zealand batsman was within a few metres of utterly obliterating two other records, one being the fastest Test double hundred in balls faced, still held at 154 balls by his fellow countryman Nathan Astle.
Selvey stated that in Christchurch McCullum hit 11 sixes, which took the batsman's tally for the year to 33, twice as many as anyone else and the most ever hit in a calendar year.
Selvey further said that New Zealand has always produced outstanding individual cricketers from a small pool of talent, adding that Sir Richard Hadlee is the most clinical pace bowler he has seen, Martin Crowe the best technician with the bat, Daniel Vettori the outstanding left-arm spinner of his time and Stephen Fleming the best Test match captain.
Selvey also claimed that with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand approaching, and led by McCullum, the outstanding captain in world cricket at the moment, they seem to be gathering momentum and strength as a team.