McCullum to announce retirement
Kane Williamson likely to replace him as captain
New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum is expected to announce his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old McCullum will become the first cricketer to play 100 consecutive Test matches when he takes the field in New Zealand’s first Test against Australia in Wellington from Feb. 12.
McCullum is expected to make the second Test of that series — starting in Christchurch on Feb. 20 — his last match for New Zealand.
It is likely that McCullum will also play a limited role in New Zealand’s forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and will miss next year’s Twenty20 World Cup.
McCullum’s gradual move to retirement will allow New Zealand to bring on batsman Kane Williamson as his successor as captain.
McCullum made his Test debut against South Africa in 2004 and hasn’t been absent from the New Zealand test side since.
In his 99 tests to date, McCullum has accumulated 6,273 runs to be New Zealand’s second-highest Test run-scorer after former captain Stephen Fleming (7,172). He has scored nine centuries and averaged 38.48 in tests. Last year he became the first New Zealander to score a test triple century, making 302 against India in Wellington.
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