Andrew Alderson: 'Baz' makes emphatic declaration

Blackcaps captain Brendon McCullum speaks to the media at Novotel Hotel Christchurch.

New Zealand captain Brendon "Baz" McCullum's actions at yesterday's media conference in Christchurch showed cricket leadership can extend to more than just beefing up the slip cordon or moving square leg in five paces.

As far as declarations go, it was a cracker. McCullum addressed his audience in a relaxed but focused fashion and answered questions willingly and succinctly until New Zealand Cricket CEO David White cut him off at one point and ushered him off stage minutes later.

Cricket, and particularly its world governing body the International Cricket Council, could learn a lot from the direct way McCullum attacked the situation without regret for the past or fear for the future.

He will be a star witness if the ICC anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) or Scotland Yard gather sufficient evidence in their concurrent investigations to initiate a hearing or court case.

McCullum has every right to be feeling joy rather than melancholy as another sibling joins son Riley and daughter Maya.

The 32-year-old exuded a similar confidence and combative instinct to that which he demonstrated during a summer when the New Zealand team laid the platform for a successful new era.

McCullum's transformation into a spirited tactical captain is less important than the impact of his attitude on the charges he leads, and, for that matter, future cricketing generations. He epitomised someone who will not cower in the face of threat. Given the stakes at play, with the dark forces operating in the match-fixing underworld, that stance is as courageous as the one he uses when facing up to fast bowlers.

His "yep" in answering the Herald's question about whether he'd stand by his testimony to the ACSU was uttered emphatically, as if he was embarking on a quick single. Such an adamant response holds weight. If his efforts go any way to stopping match-fixing, he might have done more for the game than anything else in his 12-year international career.