McCullum would be a mistake at No. 3
New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum recently gave up his wicketkeeping gloves so he can bat higher up the order
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum recently gave up his wicketkeeping gloves so he can bat higher up the order. While taking a not-so-veiled shot at the failings of New Zealand’s openers in the Dominion Post, Jonathan Millmow thinks McCullum has all the wrong attributes required of a Test No. 3 and should not be allowed to bat so far up the order.
Let's not be fooled by the statistics being tossed around by supporters of this hare-brained idea. McCullum has batted No3 five times in five years – interestingly all in England – and amassed 200 runs at 40. There was a mighty 96 at Lord's in 2004 but only one other score over 20. It's inconclusive.
He's too expansive, too valuable down the order, your instincts say no. How many times has the person next to you leaned forward during McCullum's 52-test career and said: "This bloke's a test No3 if I ever saw one".
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo