It was the summer of 2023 and in the 20 months since claiming the inaugural World Test Championship, the Black Caps had won two of 11 tests.
McCullum’s tourists started their visit in typically merciless style, barely needing a fourth day to brush past their opposition at Bay Oval, and seemed set to leave with a sweep after taking command at the Basin Reserve.
New Zealand’s golden generation was being eclipsed by the man who a decade earlier had brought a new dawn, with the obituaries drafted as an overmatched home side staggered to 103-7 in reply to 435-8.
What transpired over the next three days – Tim Southee’s six-laden cameo, Ben Stokes’ follow-on enforcement, Kane Williamson’s battling century, Neil Wagner’s late flurry – would live long in Kiwi cricketing folklore.
That historic victory inspired a year-long resurgence, the Black Caps winning six of seven tests as a veteran group found enough form to suggest the Williamson and Southee era was far from dead.
Then, the grim reaper arrived in a baggy green to spark a run of four straight defeats, as New Zealand eventually stumbled to India with Williamson injured and Southee deposed and six tests to end the year against two of the world’s top nations.
This WTC cycle was surely over; the golden generation finally dulled. McCullum – like almost every other New Zealand test cricketer luckless from his trips to India – must have expected to watch the losing streak hit seven before his new charges attempted to add more misery.
Only the exact opposite happened, another wild swing in the life of a thrillingly, maddeningly mercurial team. So, now what?
What should we expect from this three-test series? Who will be under those black caps when the first match begins at Hagley Oval on Thursday, the players swept aside by Australia on their last visit to Christchurch or the group who delivered an unprecedented sweep in India?
Who the hell knows? One thing is certain, though: this time, win or lose, it really can be considered the end of an era.
The Black Caps celebrate an improbable triumph over India. Photo / Photosport
Southee is playing his final test series against the same opposition who was at the crease the first time he sent down a red ball almost 17 years ago.
Williamson, too, has acknowledged the end is nearer than fans would like to think, injuries and interruptions an increasingly common part of life for a 34-year-old no longer playing under a central contract.
The starting XI at Hagley Oval will feature at most four players younger than 32 and that line-up may look much different when Tom Latham takes his team to England in June 2026.
That, with apologies to Zimbabwe and the West Indies, is the next marquee test series on New Zealand’s schedule. Considering how quickly world cricket is changing, with young players like Finn Allen opting to follow the franchise route of veterans like Trent Boult, the landscape in 18 months is as difficult to predict as the Black Caps’ performances.
This means these next few weeks will be treasured by bumper crowds in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton, along with massive free-to-air audiences across Aotearoa.
The conquerors of India will return to a heroes’ welcome, Southee will be saluted by an adoring – if occasionally frustrated – public, while McCullum and Ben Stokes will make for suitably compelling antagonists.
Yes, this series comes with immediate stakes: the Black Caps can still realistically reach the WTC final. But no matter which team turn up, good or bad, chances are few to be warmed by the last lingering embers of one of this country’s great teams.
The Alternative Commentary Collective is covering every home Black Caps this summer. Listen to live commentary here.
Kris Shannon has been a sports journalist since 2011 and covers a variety of codes for the Herald. Reporting on Grant Elliott’s six at Eden Park in 2015 was a career highlight.
