Mccullum gets a handle on new bat design
Selectors named a 14-man squad for an upcoming five-match ODI series against England, with Maxwell the most notable omission.
Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Mitch Master blaster Brendon Mccullum has continued his innovative thinking, producing a baseball batstyled handle for his Twenty20 cricket bat.
Mccullum, one of the hottest properties on the lucrative T20 scene, has shaped a knob on the end of the handle to stop his hands from slipping off as he plunders bowling attacks.
And the former Black Caps skipper did just that with a 101-run opening stand for the Brisbane Heat in their nine-wicket pummelling of the Melbourne Stars in the latest round of Australia’s Big Bash League.
Mccullum needed just 27 balls to bring up his 50 with a six. He departed three balls later, caught at long off for 61.
He hit seven fours and three sixes
Marsh and Marcus Stoinis were the middle-order options preferred ahead of Maxwell.
Maxwell was summoned to Brisbane as a reserve batsman for with a strike rate of 203.33.
Mccullum was interviewed on the sidelines fresh from the batting
the Ashes series opener, while he has since produced knocks of 278 and 96 in the Sheffield Shield.
‘‘It’s obviously unlucky on Glenn,’’ Steve Smith said. ‘‘Looking crease and it didn’t take long for questions to be asked about his unusual bat.
at the way he trains, he could train a little bit smarter.
‘‘We’ve all seen the way he can come out and play and do all his funky stuff and be pretty cool with
Mccullum revealed it was designed for power hitting and he had made it by wrapping pieces of old batting grips around the end of the handle and rolling a fresh grip over them.
‘‘Otherwise my hand slips off when I try to slog it,’’ Mccullum said. ‘‘It’s almost like a baseball grip.’’ Mccullum and his ‘‘Bash Brother’’ Chris Lynn recorded their third century opening stand with Lynn finishing unbeaten on 63 from 46 balls.
The win, Brisbane’s third from five games, lifted them back into the top four.
Mccullum has now scored 126 runs in five Big Bash innings at an average of 25.20 and a strike rate of 151.80, clubbing 14 fours and five sixes.
that. But when he puts his head down he’s a really good batsman, as we’ve seen in Shield cricket,’’ Smith said.
Chairman of selectors Trevor
Hohns suggested his panel wanted more consistency from Maxwell.
‘‘In his past 20 matches in this format he has averaged 22 and we need more than that from a player in the side’s batting engine room,’’ Hohns said.
Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were included in the squad but Hohns noted the test quicks would likely be rested at some point.
Tim Paine has taken the gloves from Matthew Wade, while West Australian paceman Jhye Richardson is in line to make his international debut.
Perth Scorchers star quick AJ Tye, who has played seven Twenty20s for Australia but is yet to play an ODI, has also been called up.