Brendon McCullum to retire from international cricket after the Australia series

NZ skipper Brendon McCullum will play one last series before bidding farewell to the international game. He will retire after February’s Test series at home against Australia. The 34-year-old had wanted to wait until after his final match to make the announcement, but communicated the decision earlier than planned due to the imminent naming of the Black Caps’ ICC World Twenty20 squad.

“Ideally, I would have preferred to wait until after the ANZ Test in Christchurch to make this news public. However, the schedule for naming the ICC World T20 squads means I could not have managed this without causing a lot of confusion and speculation – something I was keen to avoid. I’ve loved my opportunity to play for, and captain the Black Caps, but all good things have to come to an end, and I’m just grateful for the wonderful experience of playing for my country,” he said at a press conference in Christchurch on Tuesday. This means Kane Williamson will now lead New Zealand at the World Twenty20 in India, which gets under way in March.

McCullum made his Test debut against South Africa in 2004 and has not missed a Test since. The Dunedin-born batsman and former wicketkeeper will become the first man to play 100 successive Tests when he leads the Black Caps in the first Test against Australia in Wellington on 12 February, before making the second and final match of the series – in Christchurch, starting on 20 February – his last for his country. He has scored 6,273 runs in his 99 Tests to date – including 11 centuries, and averaged 38.48 – making him New Zealand’s second highest Test run-scorer behind former captain Stephen Fleming (7,172).

Last year he became the first New Zealander to post a Test triple century when he scored 302 against India in Wellington. He has hit 100 sixes in Test cricket and needs one more maximum to register the record for most sixes in the longest format of the game.

But he was not getting carried away looking back at his achievements on Tuesday. “There’s a time and place for reflection, and that’s at the end of your career. For now, I’ll be giving all my attention to helping the team focus on what’s coming up over the next few weeks – and making sure we’re in the best possible shape for what’s going to be a very challenging summer,” he said.

New Zealand are unbeaten in home Tests since 2013, and reached the final of this year’s Cricket World Cup under McCullum. He has scored 5,909 runs at an average of 30.30 in 254 one-day internationals, and 2,140 runs at 35.66 in 71 T20 internationals.