McCullum shares tips of trade with Seifert
‘‘‘‘Just from a general point of view, he’s helping me with little technical things with the keeping.’’ Tim Seifert on former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum
After Tim Seifert announced himself as an international cricketer against India last February, blazing 84 off 43 balls in a Twenty20 win in Wellington, he revealed a new-age piece of preparation.
‘‘[It was] kinda funny when I got told that I’ll be opening the innings,’’ he said at the time.
‘‘I Youtubed Brendon McCullum and watched some of his innings.’’
Now as he prepares to face the same opponents in the same format a year later, starting tomorrow night at Eden Park in Auckland, he’s lucky enough to count McCullum as a mentor.
It’s easy to draw comparisons between the pair, who are both big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsmen as well as being shorter than most, and it should only benefit the Black Caps that they’ve teamed up.
‘‘We got together after that series against India last time and had a few coffees,’’ Seifert said yesterday as the team trained in the nets at Eden Park.
‘‘Just from a general point of view, he’s helping me with little technical things with the keeping, and that’s backed up having [Luke] Ronchi here as well.
‘‘I’m really happy with how
my keeping’s been going and [coach Gary] Steady’s happy with how it’s been going as well.’’
While the focus with McCullum has primarily been on Seifert’s glovework, there has also been the odd batting tip – invaluable counsel from one of the best to ever do it in the game’s shortest format.
‘‘We’ve done a little bit of batting together, but mostly it’s the keeping,’’ Seifert said.
‘‘He’s just there to help me as a mentor, and no matter whether it’s batting or keeping, it’s great advice from him for the different situations you can face.’’
Seifert made his international T20 debut in 2018 and spent most of his time that year batting down the order at No 7 or No 8, scoring 40 runs in six innings with a strike rate of 138.
In 2019, established top order players Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson were never in the Black Caps’ T20 lineup at the same time due to injury and rest, and so Seifert was promoted, and scored 276 runs in 12 innings with a strike rate of 139.
Guptill and Williamson are both set to play tomorrow, and with Colin Munro also in the side, it is likely to mean a drop down the order for Seifert, who couldn’t confirm where he was expected to bat, but said he was happy to be flexible.
‘‘Obviously that’s for Kane and Steady to have a good chat about over the next few days.
‘‘I’m just here to prepare and hopefully play and wherever I bat in the team I’m just happy to play for my country.’’
Seifert would prefer to open, given the success he found there and at No 3 in 2019, and the fact that he performs that role for Northern Districts in the domestic Super Smash, where he scored 323 runs in eight innings with a strike rate of 144 during the season just gone.
‘‘I prefer the top, but when I started playing for Northern Districts I was coming in at five, six, seven, so no matter if I do bat down the offer, it’s nothing really new to me,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve done it for most of my career at Northern Districts, it’s just the last few years I’ve been at the top.
‘‘If I do bat at the bottom I’m happy to do it and I know what I can do.’’
Seifert is one of eight players coming into the India series on the back of a full Super Smash campaign, which he said was ideal preparation.
‘‘It’s the perfect time for me to come into an international T20 series.
‘‘Obviously a few boys have come back from an international test series but there’s not actually too many of those guys in this squad, so most of them have come off a good campaign of T20 cricket.’’
India were dealt a blow yesterday when it was confirmed that hard-hitting batsman Shikhar Dhawan will miss the series after suffering a shoulder injury during their recent ODI series against Australia.