Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum does not have good memories of his first game with Brisbane Heat in 2011 when he got his nose broken by a Brett Lee bouncer.
The right-handed player would like to conjure better memories with Heat this time as he gears up for another stint with them and would be hoping to take them to final after three years of failure.
McCullum is a class act on and off the field and showed his toughness when he returned to the crease after initially retiring hurt from the Brett Lee delivery.
“I can’t really remember much at all from that opening Big Bash game. They tried to put my nose back in a couple of times in the dressing room, although it still has a bend in it to this day.”
“One thing I do remember is Wendell Sailor (who was running drinks for the Heat) going on in the rooms about how tough I was”
McCullum is one of the most important signings of the team and they hugely depend on the right-hander to climb up the table from last year’s sixth placing. The Kiwi on joining the heat will get a chance to reunite with his former colleagues Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond.
“The Big Bash has become quite a big product, to the point where it is probably slightly dangerous for the future of international cricket” McCullum was quoted.
Big Bash games get massive crowds and huge promotion and the Aussie competition is hugely popular where I am from in New Zealand
“Then sometimes you watch Test cricket, like the Australian Test in Hobart recently, and there are only a few thousand people in the grandstands”
“It is great to see how well the Big Bash has developed and I always thought if I was to play in it again that the Brisbane Heat would be my first point of call”
Brendon also feels Vettori was influential in his joining of the heat and praised the bowler’s loyalty. After reaching such heights McCullum has not forgotten his working class background growing up in the tough streets of South Dunedin.
It was where his love for horses flourished and he preferred the local trotting track as a playground than some of the overgrown parks in that area.
It was an upbringing that McCullum remembered when he became the first New Zealander to score a triple century, against India in wellington in 2014.
“Nah, no tear in the eye. I’m from South Dunedin,” he said at the time.