I cant believe people are knocking him he is the most destructive batter in world cricket and much much better than that cheat Haddin Id rate him as the best batter in twenty twenty and one day cricket world wide even better than Tendulkar

Yeah McCullum should' e been troubled by all this. I love CW cWCWWW

I have to agree. This article is bollocks. No batsman goes out to bat to get a run a ball 50 and then go out. When a played gets set their first responsibility is to face and score off as many balls as possible whilst retaining their wicket as long as possible. If a batsman is adversely affected by the run rate of others it identifies a weakness in their composure. Just consider the number of balls that were blocked and lost later in the innings that McCullum and other batsmen could of scored off, had they been there.

'When he (McCullum) is hot he is the sort of batsman who likes to stay on the front foot. He needs to be facing the bowlers rather than watching from the other end.'

Right, thanks for clearing that up. If anyone was in doubt that batsman need to be bowled to to score lots of runs they aren't now

You hype up McCullum way too much, but the simple fact is he doesn't bat long enough to dominate like the true heroes in cricket like Chris Gayle, Gilchrist and Sehwag et al. That is his problem, not his team mates. Come back and write this article when he is as god as those guys

When Ryder comes back, open with him and Guptill and have McCullum bat number 6. he's a much better finisher! Who in the current line up could take the team over the line in a close game?

if you fail to perform in big matches then you deserve to lose your place. RYDER and ELLIOT have proved this. they have to play to add stability once they are fit.

Avereging 30 is not good enough. i am tired of seeing 40s get praised by our journalists and crowds. 80s and 100s win games.

McCullum is super-talented but like his team-mates plays some incredibly poor cricket shots (Napier, Auckland, Hamilton and, to a lesser extent, last night). He seems to want to hang out with and be seen in the same light as the likes of Ponting etc but he's not in the same class yet. The legacy of a great cricketer is based on consistency of performance ... McCullum and his batting mates don't get it. Cameos are not enough.

In Bond and Vettori we have world class bowlers but Tuffey Southey and Mason would be Reserve grade players in any Australian city. Vettori sets a field and Southee and Tuffey bowl slow and short to the leg side which is Bread and butter to any batsmen. Tuffey is only 5 clicks faster than Styris. The Kiwi batting excuses are WOEFUL as is the mental toughness that is sadly lacking in this team. I'm not sure what the High Performance coaches are instilling in the Kiwi players but I hope its not.. Lets hope we get to play the Bangladeshi's again newt year as its our only chance of winning !

do'nt know what all the fuss is about. not like any of these two teams matter anyway.... NZ's too low on the standings. lol

i say send the bowlers & Batsmen to get caoched by a good mate of mine. Chris"Big Mac" Mcmanus down in welly then you'd have a propper team. LMAO

Damn it!!! I wish my confidence in our team wasn't so misplaced!! I have to pay out heaps to my aussie mates now because we got touched up mostly because of our lack of patience and also we are abit mentally weak against the ockers!! Things need to change and batsman need to step up and also the bowlers. The whole series has been crap after the 1st game to be honest and we are going to get belted in the prob 6 day two test series. Cant wait for Ryder to be back in all formats. we have missed the big horse dearly. I just hope we put up a fight in the test series or it's going to be a long wait til the Bledisloe cup for me to make my money back off these gloating Aussie mates/floggers!! C'mon Blackcaps show so heart and keeps us keen!!!!