David Leggat: McCullum - the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time

Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum. Photo / Martin Hunter

There was a time when using Brendon McCullum as makeshift opener made some sense.

He had spent 29 innings there and was averaging a respectable 35.77.

When Hamish Rutherford was laid low by illness, someone had to step in for the second innings against the West Indies in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

But would not bumping the middle batsmen up one spot not have made more sense?

Consider a couple of points. BJ has been a test opener. But he had just come off almost 10 hours of wicketkeeping and wasn't the right person, but neither was McCullum.

Five and seven test innings ago, McCullum produced innings of 225 and 302 in consecutive tests.

The second is New Zealand's highest individual test score, saved a test, and ensured a series victory over India. It is fair to assume McCullum is now happy in his middle order role.

Why then, when New Zealand were facing a backs-to-the-ball operation to save the second test, and retain the lead in this series, did they upset the status quo? McCullum lasted half an hour and made three.

But Kane Williamson is in form and is hardly unused to going in early.

Since putting on 95 in the first innings of the opening home test last summer against the Windies in Dunedin, Rutherford and Peter Fulton averaged 14 for the first wicket. Rutherford and Tom Latham put on 16 in the first innings this week.

Yes, the mindset may be different. Batsmen see distinctions between successive numbers in the order. So, a No 3 specialist appreciates the difference to opening, a No 4 the difference from the No 3 slot, and so on.

New Zealand would have known they faced an uphill slog. Williamson, Ross Taylor and McCullum are the cornerstone. Would keeping them in situ not have been a better option?

At Port Elizabeth 18 months ago, coach Mike Hesson seemed to have ended McCullum's time at the top. He indicated the captain's talents could be better used elsewhere.

McCullum was entitled to put his foot down. That he offered to fill the gap speaks well of him, but whatever happens today, it might not have been the strategy with the best odds of success.