Is McCullum a selfish bastard?

[Rik E Boy]

Nah boys don't feel like keeping anymore. I'll just open the batting. Surely NZ can't afford this kind of attitude. Surely it should be 'keep wickets or hand in your black cap'. They are one ordinary Cricket team and simply don't have the luxury of having McCullum opening the batting when Young is spudding it up with the bat.

Selfish much?

regards,

REB

[dedja]

If that's what he wants then someone has to agree to let it happen, like the selectors and captain, don't they?

Anyway Jesse Ryder ... dumb cricketer and fat much? Too fat to see his feet to move them.

[the joker]

I think he was asked to concentrate on his batting in the longer form of the game to pro long his career. I think it was a good move by cricketNZ and an attacking move. He can play Sehwag esk innings

[Jim05]

Would be very difficult to open the bat and keep in a test match especially when you have a pop gun attack and are in the field for two days every innings you bowl. NZ are in a difficult position, if he has to keep then he will have to push down the order and bring in another batter. NZ obviously doesnt have a lot of depth when you see Rubbish cricketers like Ryder and Young get a gig and also have a guy who averages 200000000 runs in domestic cricket but looks like he doesnt know which end of the bat to hold. NZ cricket is in a poor state, they are screwed when Vettori hangs up the boots

[cripple]

Nah boys don't feel like keeping anymore. I'll just open the batting. Surely NZ can't afford this kind of attitude. Surely it should be 'keep wickets or hand in your black cap'. They are one ordinary Cricket team and simply don't have the luxury of having McCullum opening the batting when Young is spudding it up with the bat.

Selfish much?

regards,

REB

Surely you're joking. You might have a point if he was a rubbish batsman but he is clearly in their top 2-3 in that regard so there is no problem with it. Sangakarra has done it with Sri Lanka and it is a feasible way to prolong a players career. Also thier to support the underskilled keeper and help him progress.

[Lightning McQueen]

Selfish is probably an apt description, when Hughes got caught at 3rd you could see him in the background kicking the ground in disgust over the previous ball. A team player would've been relieved and thanked the lad that took the catch as it didn't cost the TEAM any runs.
I like him but that didn't impress me at all.

[Media Park]

The only three NZ cricketers that impressed me in any way:
Daniel Vettori... Doing what he always does. He is a super player.
Chris Martin... 3/89 (28) and 1/0... Real workhorse in the first innings, and could have been forgiven for bowling pus in the second dig, except that he ran in, had a chance dropped (another reason he could have dropped the head), then came back and got a wicket next ball.
Reece Young... 2 and 11* aren't great, not conceding a bye in 129 overs is not overly special these days, but how was coming back out there not long after he copped that ball in the face. Showed courage, and unlike McCullum (who this thread is about), actually looked like he gave a toss and wanted to be there.

[westcoastpanther]

How could you not have mentioned Brownlie MP? Apart from his shocker to get out he batted very well and valued his wicket. Tick from me

[mal]

I reckon McCullum started opening the batting and not keeping v India
That being the case his stats are

INDIA
370 RUNS
74-00 AVERAGE

PAKISTAN
157 RUNS
39.25

ZIMBABWE
25 RUNS
12.50 AVE

AUSTRALIA
35 RUNS
17.50 AVE

Overall he averages 45 when I presume not keeping and opening
Now thats OK

He averages 36.70 overall
Thats better than OK for a keeper batsman

I reckon he is better batting at 6- 7 and keeping for team balance
If he bats there, NZ can play a 5th bowler, and perhaps bowl sides out more cheaply
In that regard thats better for the team ?

Incidently when batting at 7 b4 he became the opener , this was the series b4 India
NZ played AU
McCullum made
24 + 104
5 + 51
Batting at 7
Average 46-00

What do I think
I would rather bowl at him with a new ball, then when he comes in at 6-7

As for REBS thread
Is he selfish ?
Well its his perogative, if he wants to be a batter and gets selected sobiet
BUT
I think he is letting his team down
He was one of the greatest keeper batsman off all time
Now he is just a good batsman

[MAY-Z]

the reason mccullum stopped keeping was because he had back injuries and wouldnt have been able to play much more international cricket if it involved keeping for long periods in test match cricket. so he is actually helping new zealand cricket by giving up the gloves as his batting would definitely be better than the next new zealand batsman available

[mal]

the reason mccullum stopped keeping was because he had back injuries and wouldnt have been able to play much more international cricket if it involved keeping for long periods in test match cricket. so he is actually helping new zealand cricket by giving up the gloves as his batting would definitely be better than the next new zealand batsman available

This a logical reason why he is not keeping at Test Level then

[Dogmatic]

Well he is not the most selfish cricketer. When you talk about selfish and cricketer's Tait and Gayle are prime examples.

[Rik E Boy]

Nah boys don't feel like keeping anymore. I'll just open the batting. Surely NZ can't afford this kind of attitude. Surely it should be 'keep wickets or hand in your black cap'. They are one ordinary Cricket team and simply don't have the luxury of having McCullum opening the batting when Young is spudding it up with the bat.

Selfish much?

regards,

REB

Surely you're joking. You might have a point if he was a rubbish batsman but he is clearly in their top 2-3 in that regard so there is no problem with it. Sangakarra has done it with Sri Lanka and it is a feasible way to prolong a players career. Also thier to support the underskilled keeper and help him progress.

Why would it make a difference if he couldn't bat? Fair dinkum.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

the reason mccullum stopped keeping was because he had back injuries and wouldnt have been able to play much more international cricket if it involved keeping for long periods in test match cricket. so he is actually helping new zealand cricket by giving up the gloves as his batting would definitely be better than the next new zealand batsman available

Question answered. Thank you MAY-Z.

regards,

REB

[Media Park]

The difference with Sri Lanka is that there has been Prasanna Jayawardene who can fill that lower order role and keep, and Sanga batting in the top four is okay. Unless you have a Test quality all-rounder, you've either got a bowler batting at seven, or a specialist bat at seven, which is too high and then too low.
With NZ, Reece Young is virtually a tail ender, I would see more joy in something like this:
Guptill
BJ Watling
Williamson
Ryder
Taylor
Brownlie
McCullum
Vettori
Bracewell
Southee
Martin

[Jim05]

From what ive seen of Williamson he is rubbish.

[story of my life]

From what ive seen of Williamson he is rubbish.

i thought he looked good against the Indians. Not the first bloke from another country to come unstuck on a bouncier deck

[cripple]

Nah boys don't feel like keeping anymore. I'll just open the batting. Surely NZ can't afford this kind of attitude. Surely it should be 'keep wickets or hand in your black cap'. They are one ordinary Cricket team and simply don't have the luxury of having McCullum opening the batting when Young is spudding it up with the bat.

Selfish much?

regards,

REB

Surely you're joking. You might have a point if he was a rubbish batsman but he is clearly in their top 2-3 in that regard so there is no problem with it. Sangakarra has done it with Sri Lanka and it is a feasible way to prolong a players career. Also thier to support the underskilled keeper and help him progress.

Why would it make a difference if he couldn't bat? Fair dinkum.

regards,

REB

Missed this when it was posted but will try and reply. If he is capable of playing in the team solely as a batsmen then it is not selfish in my eyes, it is doing what the team wants/ needs. I was unaware of his back condition so this makes it an even more logical decision.