McCullum: I'll miss McGrath and Warne

Brendon McCullum helped dig New Zealand out of a hole against Bangladesh

Buy this photo

Brendon McCullum admits to a twinge of disappointment he won’t be facing two of the world’s greatest bowlers in New Zealand’s upcoming series in Australia.

The retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have shorn Australia of two of their greatest and most prolific wicket-takers and while their absence will make the Black Caps’ job a little easier in the two-Test series, part of McCullum will miss not taking them on.

“There’s nothing better than facing the best bowlers in the world. Any time you play against the best you know that if you do succeed you really have earned it,” he said.

“That’s why we play the game. We all want to play against the best in the world.

“Whilst it may not be quite as big a test without them there there’s also a little part of you that would kind of wish that you had McGrath running it at you or Warne giving you a little bit of chip.”

McCullum, who was named New Zealand’s cricketer of the year at an awards ceremony on Wednesday, will still have the pace of Brett Lee to contend with.

Lee has been one of New Zealand’s chief tormentors in recent years and having been on the end of a couple of Lee beamers in past encounters, the 27-year-old Black Caps wicketkeeper is expecting the Australia seamer to bounce back from what has been a largely disappointing tour of India.

“He always comes back strong against us. He seems to bowl his fastest against us too,” McCullum said with a wry grin.

“Back in Australia where the pitches will suit him a lot more, he is their number one bowler at the moment too, so I’m sure he’ll step up.”

But McCullum, who is expected to bat at five again in the first Test in Brisbane starting on November 20, remains wary of the team putting too much focus on combating Lee.

“That’s what we’ve got to be careful of, we don’t put all our eggs in the Brett Lee basket and we get knocked over by Stuart Clark.

Shane Warne has McCullum lbw in the third Test at Auckland in 2005 on the way to Australia's win

Buy this photo

“We’ve got to make sure that we are totally ready for whatever comes our way and make sure we’re playing at our optimum.

He added: “(Clark) is very similar to Glenn McGrath. He gives you very little opportunities or loose balls to hit so he’s constantly on you with the pressure and building that up.

“He’s got the ability to work you out as a batter. He’s proven to be a very good bowler.

“(Mitchell Johnson is also) doing really well. They seem to have almost adjusted their plans around when (he) comes on. They seem to be a little more technically aware of how they’re going to work guys out.

“That left arm over the wicket provides a point of difference and that seems to be what they are using him for.”

While the recent tour of Bangladesh had done little to prepare the team for the conditions they will face in Australia, McCullum was confident it had served to build some character within the largely inexperienced team as they head to Australia looking for their first Test series win there since 1985.

In Bangladesh the Black Caps came back from a game down to win the one-day series then dug themselves out of hole in the first Test by scoring the 318 runs needed to win the match, New Zealand's highest successful run-chase overseas.

“Whilst the performances probably weren’t as convincing as we first hoped over in Bangladesh, what we gained out of it in the building of character and playing with an immense amount of pressure on us to win was something that the guys really enjoyed,” he said.

“We had to fight pretty hard to get those wins and in the end it is probably going to leave us in better stead than if we had gone over there and won a Test match in two days and wiped them off the park in the one-dayers.

“(But) we are under no illusions that we are going to have to play at our absolute best for the whole Test series in Australia to give ourselves an opportunity.

“That’s just the nature of how good Australia are and that’s why they are the number one team in the world.”