I let captaincy affect my batting - McCullum

New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum is keen to put the lessons learned from a difficult 2009 IPL into practice during this year's tournament.

McCullum is in the middle of a home series against Australia. New Zealand lost the Chapell-Hadlee series 3-2 and the teams will meet in Wellington on Friday for the first of two Test matches. With the 2010 IPL successfully underway amongst security fears, McCullum is still waiting on clearance before confirming his involvement but was eager to participate in the competition because of its massive impact on the cricketing world.

"Things look to be going pretty well, so I guess it's just a case of monitoring the situation. Every player wants to be involved in the IPL because it's such a great tournament and the fact that it's played at that time of year in conditions which are pretty extreme is just another challenge."

During the 2009 tournament, McCullum faced one of the most difficult periods of his career as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He believes he has learned from those mistakes and hopes to make amends this year.

"It was a tough challenge and results didn't go the way we wanted, but it was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to captain a franchise with such a big fan following. I certainly learned some lessons which will help me as I continue to experience everything cricket has to offer.

"I tried to be too responsible with my batting. My game is based around being aggressive and playing with no fear, and when you're willing yourself to perform so much that can often affect that aggressiveness.

"I think the messages that I was preaching I actually wasn't following myself in terms of that aggressive style of cricket. In hindsight, I think I let the captaincy affect my batting, but fortunately, towards the end of the competition I produced some performances that helped the team win as well."

The Knight Riders have an embarrassment of riches in the batting department, with McCullum joined by Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, and Sourav Ganguly as well as handy allrounder Angelo Mathews.

"We struggled with batting last year, so we've tried to reinforce it this year. Three guys have gone well so far, so I think it's been a good move. If you can get as many runs as possible, you give yourself a good chance with the ball.

"It's a real luxury to have so many good players that you can just select the ones that are in good form at the time."

The prospect of opening the innings with Gayle has McCullum extremely excited and even though the two didn't do so well when opening last year in South Africa, it seems only a matter of time before they destroy a bowling attack in the IPL.

"It's going to be awesome. We did it in South Africa but we played on some fresher wickets and obviously our games are both helped by flat decks, so hopefully we get some flat ones in India and all going well we'll open together and get a few away."

McCullum still holds the record for the highest score in the IPL: he blasted an amazing 158 not out off 73 balls against Bangalore in the very first game of the league. He loves the environment surrounding the event each year and can't wait to join his team in a couple of weeks.

"The following and the hype of it being an Indian competition is amazing. Indian people are passionate about their cricket and their team and there's a huge intensity surrounding the performance of each team.

"Playing in front of the huge crowds is something pretty spectacular and having 90,000 people at some of our games at Eden Gardens is pretty phenomenal."

New Zealand team-mate and paceman Shane Bond joins McCullum in the Knight Riders franchise for 2010, and is already in India after retiring from Test matches late last year.

"It's fantastic to have Bondy in the same team. He's a quality player and he'll add a lot to the squad. I'm sure he will enjoy the experience of the IPL and the intensity in which the competition is played. It's always good to have someone else from your own country in your team. His performance will be great for us and he'll be good to have in the environment too."

Marc Ellison is the editor for www.twenty20.co.nz

McCullum's deal exposes New Zealand's poor schedule

Matthew Hayden has said Brendon McCullum's move to play Twenty20 for New South Wales highlights New Zealand's "disappointing" international schedule. McCullum has been picked up by the Blues for Saturday's final in the hope he will be available for the rich Champions League tournament in India in October.

"It is reflective of how disappointing the international program has been for New Zealand more than anything," Hayden said in the Australian. "It's a real indictment on their cricket that you can have one of the elite players in world cricket not being able to play the volume of cricket with the earning capacity that most international athletes can expect.

"It's pretty tough. I feel very sympathetic towards a country like New Zealand, which has some wonderful cricketers but they don't get enough international opportunities. What's the ICC doing?"

Australia's one-day representatives have been ruled out of the final, leaving Victoria without David Hussey and their captain Cameron White, who didn't play in the three-wicket loss to South Africa on Friday. New South Wales will be missing David Warner, Brad Haddin, Nathan Bracken and Nathan Hauritz. It was Warner's absence that convinced New South Wales to push for McCullum's signature.

McCullum said on Friday it would be an "honour" and "a thrill" to represent New South Wales. "As a New Zealander, any chance to get to come and play in an Australian competition is held in huge regard," he said. "I'm sure all of the [New Zealand] guys would love to have an opportunity to play in this competition and if they do I'm sure they'll have the excitement I've got leading into this game as well."

Hayden wondered what was going to happen to the international programme with the rise of the new format. "A combination of country and franchises would seem to be appropriate given you don't want to lose the importance of Test status," he said. "I don't think that's a problem in Australia, but you go to the West Indies and they have 350 people at a day's play sometimes. You go to India this season and at some grounds they have to bus in school kids for a crowd. It goes to show the sort of value people are putting on Test cricket."

© Cricinfo