Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum held 120 Otago secondary school pupils spellbound when he spoke about leadership in Dunedin yesterday.
McCullum told pupils at a breakfast at the University Oval that he always had ambitions to captain New Zealand when he was growing up and was a member of the King's High School First XI.
''The key is to show leadership when the chips are down,'' McCullum said.
''The team performance is the most important and I just love it when team members perform well.''
Five pupils from Blue Mountain College travelled to Dunedin for the breakfast. They each had a miniature cricket bat signed by McCullum.
''It was pretty cool to listen to Brendon and have my photo taken with him,'' George Davies (12) said.
Twins Kate and Georgia Heffernan (13), who have played for the Otago under-15 girls team for the past two years, were also in the group.
Queen's High School pupil Nuvindi Basnayake (16) shifted to Dunedin from Sri Lanka with her family a year ago and was at the breakfast with her sister, Yasasmi (14).
Bayfield High School First XI captain James Lamb (15) and Lachie Edwards (17), of Maniototo Area School, were among the others who enjoyed McCullum's insights.
