Brendon McCullum is going to be sorely missed: Trent Boult

By Veeran Rajendiran

Updated - 17 Feb 2016, 21:01 IST

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The second and the last Test of the Trans-Tasman Trophy will be an emotional moment for New Zealand cricket fans as Brendon McCullum bid adieu to international cricket. According to fast bowler Trent Boult, McCullum’s farewell Test will be a “pretty sad” moment and his presence will be sorely missed in the team.

New Zealand will definitely want to send-off the legend with a Test victory when they come out to play at the Hagley Oval. Australia won the first Test at Wellington halting McCullum unbeaten run of 13 home Tests which began in March 2012 against South Africa.

Boult told reporters there had been emotion around McCullum signing off when they played at the Basin, as there would be at Hagley Oval.

“I think there was a lot of emotion in this one [in Wellington] to be honest,” Boult said on Wednesday. “But his last one – it’s going to be pretty sad, to be honest. Everyone has played with him for that long and he’s good mates with everyone in the team. We’re all looking forward to running out with him for the last time.

“He’s changed the game, in a way. The way the New Zealanders have got behind cricket, behind the team, is because of him and his style of play, his attacking captaincy. He’s going to be sorely missed. We’ll look forward to running out with him one last time and then I’m sure he’s left the team in good hands.”

McCullum has led and transformed the Black Caps cricket totally. ‘Baz’ was named captain alongside the new coach Mike Hesson just after a year of Boult’s debut who feels that he owes his success to him.

“You can put it down to a lot of things, but he’s a true leader and everyone looks up to him in the team,” Boult said of his own success. “I owe a lot to him, to be honest. He is going to be sorely missed.”

New Zealand would hope they will find a greener pitch than the one that was on offer at the Basin Reserve. There was some seam movement on the first morning but there was little for the rest of the Test, although Australia’s fast men surprised New Zealand by finding reverse swing in the second innings.

“We didn’t get it to go at all,” Boult said. “They got it to go nicely. We could learn a thing or two from them in regards to if nothing is happening on a flat wicket, then how valuable reverse swing is. They did that nicely, but I’m not sure how much we’ll see of that down at Hagley.

“It’s not something we do often see [in New Zealand]. They got it to go nicely and it worked very effectively for them. We’ll have to learn from that and understand that when things aren’t happening or there’s no wickets on a flat wicket, you’ve got to look at other measures. I think they did that very nicely. It was pretty surprising.”

This will be just the second Test played at Hagley Oval. The last one played in December 2014 saw New Zealand win the match by eight wickets against Sri Lanka. McCullum made 195 in that match and Boult took seven wickets, including three in the first innings when Sri Lanka were rolled for 138.

“I think the wicket here [in Wellington] was a good wicket, but as a bowler I’d love to see it a lot greener of course as well,” Boult said. “That way you can get a lot more seam off the wicket. It’s going to be interesting to see what we get down there [in Christchurch] but I’m sure it will have a tinge of green as well.”

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