Cricket: McCullum takes decision on leadership on the chin

Brendon McCullum believes New Zealand doesn't need a vice-captain, but he would take up the position if asked. Photo / Alan Gibson

Unwanted captaincy candidate Brendon McCullum does not believe New Zealand necessarily needs a vice-captain, but he'll do it in a heartbeat if asked.

The 29-year-old wicketkeeper batsman has been left with his thoughts since receiving the call he didn't want from director of cricket John Buchanan on Monday night.

Disappointment turned quickly to resolve. Any talk of him undermining the anointed Ross Taylor is dispatched to cow corner. The allegations that he is front and centre of a booze culture gets even shorter shrift.

"It doesn't warrant a response, it's that petty. It's just ludicrous to put that out there."

He's happy to concede, however, that he took the call from Buchanan hard.

"I was thinking, 'What more could I have done'?" McCullum said. "I started to get angry, then I started feeling incompetent, thinking my style must be completely wrong.

"I wrestled with that for a while. I eventually came to the view that by asking me to present they were at least thinking about the possibility of moving ahead with a more aggressive style, but in the end they decided to stay with the more typically New Zealand, safer approach.

"I've got to take that on the chin. It's fine. I've had clarification and I know now what my role in the team is."

Whether that role comes with a title is still undecided. Coach John Wright indicated that McCullum was the logical choice to take the helm if Taylor was off the field, but New Zealand Cricket is understood to be debating the merits of naming a deputy at all.

McCullum, for one, seems to lean on the side of shared responsibility.

"I don't necessarily think they need a vice-captain. The structure they're trying to put in place is asking all the experienced players in the team to become better leaders. Ultimately, I'll do whatever the team requires. If the team needs a vice-captain and they want it to be me, I'll do it."

McCullum has been down that route before. He was Dan Vettori's deputy until being controversially stripped of that role in 2009. Ironically, one of the reasons given for his axing was the desire to bring Taylor out of his shell and develop him as a leader.

Although the time taken to appoint a captain has been widely criticised, McCullum said he enjoyed the process and the chance to present his vision.

"I put a lot of hard work and effort into getting my presentation bang on and I thought I nailed that. I really enjoyed that aspect and the pressure that comes with having to put across your case, trying to be emphatic without offering guarantees of success.

"I obviously didn't enjoy the outcome, but now it's all about what positive influence I can have on the team."

He said he was happy with where his test game was at, having accumulated more than 1100 runs at an average of 58 in the past two seasons, but described his one-day form as "schizophrenic".