Poll: Is Brendon McCullum the most influential New Zealand cricketer after Richard Hadlee?

Brendon McCullum, the bodacious and influential New Zealand cricketer played his last international match against Australia at Christchurch. McCullum, who announced his retirement from all forms of the game a few months back, went on to display why he is such an amazing cricketer as he smashed the fastest century in Test history (off 54 balls) in his last international game. That the whirlwind knock came when his team was reeling at 32/3 speaks volumes about the tenacity of the man.

Regardless of the result of this match, McCullum, once again, has proved why he is such a massive influence on his team. In fact, ever since he has been the captain of the side, he has turned New Zealand into a competent force in all forms; especially the shorter ones as was evident in the 2015 World Cup. It was through his ultra-aggressive leadership and belligerent, leading from the front batting, that he, almost single-handedly, took his team to the finals of the event. Over the course of the last two-three years, he has transformed from an impactful batsman to one of the most dominant forces in New Zealand cricket. The void that he leaves behind will be too huge to fill.

One has to understand that McCullum’s influence on New Zealand was not just about numbers. If you go by numbers alone, then it is Stephen Fleming – the man who led New Zealand in 218 Tests and won 98 of them – who would be the most prominent. However, it was McCullum’s brand of bold and aggressive cricket that has left a gigantic impact on his team. For long, New Zealand was always considered to be a decent team, that, at times, could spring a surprise or two, on the Goliaths out there. But McCullum taught them to punch above their weights. He has inspired a generation of new, young New Zealand cricketers under his tutelage and has instilled belief in them to be world beaters. He always led from the front and was ruthlessly positive no matter what the situation. That alone is his most significant influence on his team.

If you scour New Zealand’s cricket history, it would be easy to find that it was Sir Richard Hadlee, undoubtedly, who actually brought New Zealand cricket to the forefront in his heydays. He was the first player ever to reach the mark of 400 Test wickets and was also a competent hard-hitting batsman. His impact on his country and the game at large is hence unquestionable. After him, there were a fair share of great players that played for New Zealand. Martin Crowe, Chris Cairns, Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori, among many others. All of them left a mark of New Zealand in their myriad ways.

But would it be fair to say that it was Brendon McCullum who is the most influential one after Sir Richard Hadlee? He may not have the most remarkable numbers ever, but they are certainly very impressive; especially when he led the side. As a captain, McCullum scored 2355 runs at an average of 45.28 in 31 Tests and 1887 runs at an average of 33.69 and strike rate of 120 in 32 ODIs. He has been brilliant even in T20Is where he captained in 28 matches, scored 735 runs at an average of 29.40, a strike rate of 130 and the best of 74.

In the 31 Tests that he led, he won 11 of them and in ODIs he led his side on 62 occasions coming out victorious 36 times. What’s even more remarkable is that from October 2013 to November 2015, McCullum led his side to 7 undefeated Test series. He is the only player to have hit 100 sixes in Tests and 200 sixes in ODIs and also remains the only cricketer to have hit two international T20 hundreds. Currently, he also holds the record for being the only cricketer to have played 100 consecutive Tests. With 6453 runs, McCullum is second on the list of most Test runs by a New Zealander. His mammoth and epic innings of 302 against India remains the highest individual Test score by a New Zealand batsman and his 12 Test centuries make him fifth on the all-time list of Test centuries and 5 ODI hundreds make him sixth on the all-time list of ODI centuries by a New Zealand cricketer.

Those are undeniably some very striking numbers. But as mentioned above, Brendon McCullum was more than the numbers. When he started his career, he was this brash, young man blazing his way around everything. But 14 years since, the 34-year-old is leaving behind a legacy which, hopefully, the new generation of New Zealand cricketers would be able to learn from. Now we would like you to vote and let us know if you think Brendon McCullum was indeed the most influential New Zealand cricketer after Sir Richard Hadlee.

[interaction id=”56cdbe9c5762585b452c2d1f”]