Cricket: Little bro scored big in the backyard

Nathan McCullum.
Nathan McCullum.
Turns out Brendon McCullum might have scored a triple century before his fabulous effort at the Basin Reserve this week.

The Black Caps captain became the first New Zealand batsman to reach the milestone when he cut a delivery from Zaheer Khan to the boundary, eclipsing Martin Crowe's long-standing record of 299.

It was a monumental effort from McCullum and a very special moment for the family.

Brendon's father, Stu, was at the Basin and watched on nervously.

His older brother, Black Caps and Otago all-rounder Nathan McCullum, was in Dunedin playing in a first-class fixture for the Volts.

But despite being more than 800km south, Nathan was able to listen to the moment unfold live on radio.

Free poster in today's print ODT
Free poster in today's print ODT

Long-serving scorer Malcolm Jones kept his finger pressed down on the radio telephone he uses to communicate with the umpires and another Jones, umpire Phil Jones, kept the line open so Nathan could listen in between overs.

It was not quite the same as being there, of course, but a good memory nonetheless.

''I was lucky enough to stand next to Jonsey at square leg for that moment when he brought it up so it was pretty cool,'' Nathan said.

''It was nice of the Joneses to help us out in that plight. It was pretty awesome to see Brendon take over that record and 300 is something special and will obviously be remembered for a long time.''

Brendon resumed yesterday morning on 281 and a big crowd flooded into the venue in the hope of witnessing history. Nathan did not have any useful advice for his brother overnight other than a text wishing him good luck.

Incredibly, Brendon is the fifth Albion club cricketer to score a first-class triple century. Bert Sutcliffe, Glenn Turner, Ken Rutherford and Mark Richardson have all managed the feat as well.

''I actually thought about that the other day. I remember seeing a little plaque back in the day when we were very young boys playing for Albion and there was a number of those older fellows that had knocked up 300. But obviously, to do it for New Zealand is something special.''

Long before Brendon entered the international scene, he was just a nipper battling with his older brother to get a bat in the back yard of the family's home in St Kilda.

And according to Nathan, Brendon was not too keen to give up the bat once he got it in his hands, and posted some pretty big scores.''

He might have got out six or seven times and not walked off, but that is probably his biggest-ever total.''

 

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