By Paul Nixon
You couldn’t have written a better script, could you? Brendon McCullum strides to the crease on the first day of his final Test match, and marks his pending retirement with the fastest century in the history of Test cricket.
Like a lot of people in England – and those of us who have kids – I didn’t get to see it live on TV (those days of stopping up long into the night are long gone for me), but after waking up on Saturday and catching up on social media, I just couldn’t believe what I was reading, and later seeing.
From the very first ball, McCullum only had one thing on his mind, to attack. He wanted to rubber-stamp his Test career with an innings that would define him; he wanted to lay down a marker for the modern game. He did that, first over 54 balls to get to his century, beating the previous best efforts of Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq (56 balls) and then facing a further 25 balls to finish on 145. It was bludgeoning and quite superb to watch. God knows what it would have been like to actually be there to see it.
When McCullum first came over to England for a stint with Glamorgan, he didn’t have the reputation he has today. Sure, he was belligerent but the game was very different ten years ago. He would look to tee off, but it was slightly more measured. As the game evolved, so too did McCullum, and as Derek Pringle rightly says elsewhere in this week’s issue, he grew into one of the most feared batsmen in the game – a guy who could genuinely intimidate a bowler.
He will rightly go down as a very fine player – a borderline great. I have never been one to read too much into stats, and in McCullum’s case they don’t serve justice (an average of less than 39 in Tests and just above 30 in ODIs), but there is certainly a feeling that the menace within only came out in the latter years of his career, especially when he ditched the wicketkeeping gloves. He was a different player with then on.
I don’t, for a second, wish to downplay anything the guy has done, but he is such a modest and honest bloke that he would agree with this point. He is a product of the modern cricketing age; he is an entertainer. And, for me, the word ‘great’ is bandied about too loosely these days.
Of course, the ultimate entertainer, and a man who was, for me, the real game changer, was one of the joint record-holders that McCullum surpassed. Viv Richards’ 56-ball century at Antigua against England in 1986 remains the absolute yardstick to measure great, attacking innings. I would be surprised if Viv hit a single ball backward of square in that knock, and while the England attack on that day – already 4-0 down in a five-match series – was seriously wilting, Viv’s ability to pick
the ball up and adjust to the line and length meant he could dispatch it pretty much wherever he wanted. Swipes over cow-corner and vicious pulls off the front foot were very much the order of the day. It was wonderful stuff from a truly great player.
As for McCullum, he can now retire from the international game knowing he achieved what he set out to do: to be a player you would want to pay money to watch. His unselfish attitude in pursuit of entertainment will be sorely missed.
He deserves all the plaudits he gets, not just for being a very fine player, but also for being a great bloke. And there is nothing borderline about that…
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday February 26 2016
