Few, if any, have done as much for cricket in New Zealand as Brendon McCullum has. His announcement this week that he’ll retire at the end of the summer is a huge blow, but he’ll leave with enormous respect. 

Brendon's leadership is second to none, while his ability to take games away from the opposition in the space of 20 balls is almost unique.

The positive news is that we still have him for the rest of the summer and the team will be desperate to send him out on a high. He’s certainly not short on motivation himself either. 

The upcoming Boxing Day ANZ ODI should be a goodie. Hagley Oval is a terrific ground to play on and the Christchurch crowd always get out in force. They may well see one of their locals debut too, with Henry Nicholls a good chance to play in one of the two opening ODIs. 

After the amazing home summer last season, it’s exciting to have our first ODI on home soil since the World Cup. The momentum we gathered over that time was special, and we’ll look to continue building on that this summer.

There’s the small matter of Christmas Day before the start of the series though and it’s not always easy away from friends and family.  Brendon and his family though have kindly offered to have the team around for a Christmas meal. There’s likely to be a fair bit of food and backyard cricket, but with the match the next day I’ll be keeping an eye on the bowlers to see their loads aren’t too high. Even in the backyard the competitive edge really comes into play. 

On behalf of the team, have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the break – make sure you tune in on Boxing Day and get along to a game some time. 

Thanks for reading. 

Mike H