Bat and ball / Andrew Hughes / 04 November 2009 / Leave a comment

Last year's Black Cap batting hero has suffered a nightmare 2009. Andrew Hughes asks where it went wrong for Brendon McCullum and how he can turn it around

"Whilst it is inevitable that a long run of indifferent form will lead to introspection, he should not abandon his attacking approach to the game."

2009 was going to be Brendon McCullum's year. Named as New Zealand's player of 2008, he had scored an epic 158 in the first ever IPL game; had averaged a healthy 47.53 in one day internationals at an astonishing strike rate of 110.16 and was talking confidently about aiming to become the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world. Already opening the batting in limited overs cricket, he was expected to move up the order in Tests and was named as New Zealand's vice-captain.

Yet as 2009 draws to a close, McCullum appears a shadow of the tattooed, bleached-haired marauder who had been pulverising bowlers the previous year. His one-day average since January is a puny 25.85 and he has failed to improve his status as a Test player, with his career Test average barely improving at all, remaining stuck in the low thirties. His wicket keeping has also suffered and he has dropped some crucial catches, both in the IPL and the final of the Champions Trophy.

Until we read his autobiography, we won't know how much this decline was influenced by his nightmare six weeks at this year's IPL. But it's probably safe to say that his time as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders was not the happiest period of his career to date. With deposed captain Sourav Ganguly in the wings, he was under pressure from the start. Early failures with the bat undermined his authority with his teammates and the humiliation of leading a high profile, big name team to ten straight defeats in front of a worldwide audience must surely have dented his confidence. His sometimes brittle and emotional press conference performances were testament to a man whose self-belief was at a low ebb.

The post-IPL period has been a struggle. A poor World Twenty-20 was followed by indifferent performances in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy, culminating in the final where he made a duck and dropped a crucial and straightforward catch from Cameron White. His captain, Daniel Vettori suggested that he was likely to drop down the order in one-day internationals in future and on the eve of the current series against Pakistan, he was stripped of the vice-captaincy role, in order, so it was said, that he might concentrate on batting.

Inevitably some pundits are saying that he should restrain himself, should become more solid, more patient and rein in his attacking instincts. It is true that he has shown a tendency to throw his wicket away with an over-ambitious or ill-judged shot, but that is the result of judgement in the heat of the moment, rather than an inclination to over-attack. His technique is not set up to block, nudge or accumulate and whilst it is inevitable that a long run of indifferent form will lead to introspection, he should not abandon his attacking approach to the game.

Now that captaincy is off the agenda (since he is unlikely to be retained as Kolkata captain for next year's IPL) the New Zealand selectors should seriously consider relieving him of his other extra duty. It is a startling statistic that in one-day matches, McCullum averages 26.80 when playing as wicket keeper but 37.57 when not taking the gloves. That would suggest that, if only as an experiment, he should be relieved of his behind the stumps duties whilst he re-discovers his batting mojo and returns to the explosive form he showed in 2008.

And New Zealand need him back to his best sooner rather than later. The lack of depth to their batting was exposed in the first one day international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. With their other power-hitter Jesse Ryder still absent and McCullum failing again, they were shot out for 149. Their defeat was as comprehensive as you can get in a fifty over game and it is hard to make a case for them levelling the series on Friday in what are unfamiliar conditions. They are as long as [2.64] to win the second one-day international with Pakistan big favourites on [1.56]

Tags: Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, New Zealand ODI team, one-day cricket betting, Pakistan cricket