Tweet
Cricket: McCullum joins the greats
WELLINGTON: You can judge the character of a player during an adversity; and you can get an insight into the personality of a man, when he goes and does something great.
Brendon McCullum showed how huge he is on both counts when he rescued New Zealand from imminent defeat and went on to score the first triple century for his country. "Without being disrespectful I probably didn't know the magnitude of it (the 300) until the last 24 hours," he said, almost embarrassed by the love and respect he was getting.
"I grew up and watched the NZ cricket team for years on end. I watched Martin Crowe score his 299 and thought it would have been an amazing feat if he scored 300, but probably didn't quite understand how much it meant to the whole country," he revealed.
McCullum was dog-tired, even in a daze, when he retired for the day on 281 on Monday evening. "I wasn't too bad," he said about the effort, "till I saw the size of the crowd. Then, every ball that I defended, left or got a single, they would start cheering and it made me a little bit more nervous.
"That's probably when I understood the magnitude of the task at hand and the immense joy it gives fans of this cricket team to see guys succeed and see records broken. It was a moment when 300 came up and the applause was ongoing for quite a while. It is really when it hit home to me that it was quite a significant feat for a New Zealander and I'll certainly remember them for the rest of my life."
He was honest enough to share that it was once-in-a-lifetime experience. "I've never experienced anything like that before. All the tough times and tough periods you go through when you're out of form and you're just trying to keep the faith in what you're trying to achieve.
"And just knowing there are plenty of good people out there who are backing you as well in that moment I guess I realised how much satisfaction you can bring people from the way you achieve stuff and that gave me a lot of good feelings."
McCullum revealed that the momentum towards the 300 had started building up on Monday evening itself. "I saw Martin Crowe talk about it on television. I spoke to Stephen Fleming and both were only talking about the significance of a 300 to the country.
"Those two guys sat at 1 and 2 on the table. I feel a little bit embarrassed because I'm nowhere near the calibre of players they were, but I think in terms of New Zealand cricket and moving forward for this team, we have finally broken that 300 barrier and hopefully some of these guys will continue to break that barrier."
The NZ skipper showed he has a sense of humour despite the fatigue by making it clear that he didn't have a tear in his eye after reaching the landmark. "Nah, no tear in the eye. I'm from south Dunedin."
Speaking about the previous night, he said: "I went for a beer with the old man. He was up and booked his flight for a month late which everyone says was a bit silly. I just think he's quite cunning. I just tried to keep it relaxed and normal as possible."
Brendon McCullum showed how huge he is on both counts when he rescued New Zealand from imminent defeat and went on to score the first triple century for his country. "Without being disrespectful I probably didn't know the magnitude of it (the 300) until the last 24 hours," he said, almost embarrassed by the love and respect he was getting.
"I grew up and watched the NZ cricket team for years on end. I watched Martin Crowe score his 299 and thought it would have been an amazing feat if he scored 300, but probably didn't quite understand how much it meant to the whole country," he revealed.
McCullum was dog-tired, even in a daze, when he retired for the day on 281 on Monday evening. "I wasn't too bad," he said about the effort, "till I saw the size of the crowd. Then, every ball that I defended, left or got a single, they would start cheering and it made me a little bit more nervous.
"That's probably when I understood the magnitude of the task at hand and the immense joy it gives fans of this cricket team to see guys succeed and see records broken. It was a moment when 300 came up and the applause was ongoing for quite a while. It is really when it hit home to me that it was quite a significant feat for a New Zealander and I'll certainly remember them for the rest of my life."
He was honest enough to share that it was once-in-a-lifetime experience. "I've never experienced anything like that before. All the tough times and tough periods you go through when you're out of form and you're just trying to keep the faith in what you're trying to achieve.
"And just knowing there are plenty of good people out there who are backing you as well in that moment I guess I realised how much satisfaction you can bring people from the way you achieve stuff and that gave me a lot of good feelings."
McCullum revealed that the momentum towards the 300 had started building up on Monday evening itself. "I saw Martin Crowe talk about it on television. I spoke to Stephen Fleming and both were only talking about the significance of a 300 to the country.
"Those two guys sat at 1 and 2 on the table. I feel a little bit embarrassed because I'm nowhere near the calibre of players they were, but I think in terms of New Zealand cricket and moving forward for this team, we have finally broken that 300 barrier and hopefully some of these guys will continue to break that barrier."
The NZ skipper showed he has a sense of humour despite the fatigue by making it clear that he didn't have a tear in his eye after reaching the landmark. "Nah, no tear in the eye. I'm from south Dunedin."
Speaking about the previous night, he said: "I went for a beer with the old man. He was up and booked his flight for a month late which everyone says was a bit silly. I just think he's quite cunning. I just tried to keep it relaxed and normal as possible."
Comment