McCullum best suited to batting in top order

Over the last couple of series, the dilemma of where Brendon McCullum should be batting in one-day internationals has reared its head once more, writes Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday.

If McCullum can take the same mentality he took in his two 60 not outs in the T20s into the ODIs then those scores would convert to possible 150s. Scores like that achieve wins. I was surprised at his comments of displeasure with his first match-winning effort in Christchurch. Sure, it was punctuated with mistimed shots and lacked the fluency he would desire, but he achieved something vitally important in one's development as a player in any sport. He won ugly.

Also in the Herald on Sunday, David Leggat writes that Scott Styris' omission from the ODI squad "could realistically have drawn the curtain down on the international career of one of New Zealand's best-performed allrounders".