Brendon McCullum wins T20 Performance of the Year

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman, has won the prize for the Best Twenty20 Performance at the ICC Awards ceremony in Bangalore. McCullum's unbeaten 116 against Australia in Christchurch in February this year was singled out as the greatest among the five nominations.

McCullum's 56-ball innings, laced with 12 fours and eight sixes, beat competition from Australia's Michael Hussey for his 60 not out off 24 balls against Pakistan in the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20, South Africa's Ryan McLaren for his 5 for 19 against West Indies, and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene for his two performances at the ICC World Twenty20 - 100 off 64 balls against Zimbabwe and 98 not out off 56 balls against West Indies.

McCullum, who is in Bangladesh with the rest of the New Zealand squad for the Test and ODI series there, was delighted with the award. "That score is my highest in a Twenty20 International and on the day everything just seemed to go right for me."

The award rounded off a good year of Twenty20 International cricket for McCullum, who scored 411 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.36 during the voting period, which ran from August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010. 

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Successful second wind for Styris

Six months ago, Scott Styris' international career was on the rocks after he was axed from the one-day side for the home series against Bangladesh. The drop came barely four months after his recall for a limited-overs series against Pakistan. How many can make two international comebacks after turning 34? Yet, Styris is now firmly back in New Zealand's plans for the 2011 World Cup, and he gave another demonstration of his usefulness on a tricky Dambulla track to set his team up for a victory that pushed them to the No. 2 spot in the ICC rankings.

An inexperienced New Zealand side wasn't given much of a chance coming into the tournament and it seemed to show why when it tumbled to 28 for 3 in the face of a hostile new-ball spell from Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. That brought together Styris, the most experienced man in the line-up, and Ross Taylor, their captain and most important batsman. The two senior players just about managed to survive the next few overs, before getting more settled once the spinners were brought on.

Styris, in particular, had a nervous beginning. There was an lbw appeal from Praveen which Hawk-Eye suggested would shave the outside of legstump, a close caught-behind shout in Abhimanyu Mithun's first over, before being saved by the height on being struck in front of middle by Mithun's stock incutter. His biggest reprieve was a missed stumping off Pragyan Ojha when he was beaten by the turn after waltzing out of the crease, but the sharp spin meant Dhoni also failed to collect cleanly.

By then, the pair had added more than 50 runs with Taylor unleashing a bunch of boundaries. With Mithun suffering a heat stroke and the senior quicks having already bowled plenty of overs, Styris then cashed in on some amiable left-arm spin. Boundaries off Ojha and Ravindra Jadeja were mixed with sensible singles and before you knew it New Zealand had moved to 150 off 30 overs.

Then Taylor risked taking the batting Powerplay early. Styris' boundary-count shot up in those five overs, at the end of which 300 was in New Zealand's sights and the two batsmen seemed to be in a race to reach triple-figures. Styris drew level with Taylor on 89 with a straight swing for six off Ojha but a fifth ODI century eluded him when he was dismissed two balls later. On a pitch where 240 was talked of as the par score at the toss, Styris had piloted New Zealand to 219 for 4 with more than ten overs to go.

"The bounce is spongy here. It's not true bounce as at WACA or some of the pitches in South Africa. It's a tennis ball bounce. On top of that it spun fast," Styris said after New Zealand completed their win. "It was particularly tough to bat on and that's why Ross and I are particularly pleased with the runs we were able to get."

The 200-run victory was New Zealand's biggest over India. "We are obviously delighted with the result," Styris said. "We were missing [Brendon] McCullum and [Daniel] Vettori and perhaps we didn't have the same respect from the opposition and the media."

Today's performance extends a rich vein of form for Styris, who kickstarted his attempt to re-cement a place in the one-day side with a cool 34-ball 49 in a big chase against Australia in his first match on comeback. He put in four solid contributions with the bat in five games that series, and has continued the run during his stint with Essex over the New Zealand winter.

With emergence of Grant Elliott and the presence of Jacob Oram, New Zealand aren't exactly short on medium-pace allrounders and the competition for spots remains fierce. "Some nine-ten months ago I was a bit on the outer, which was disappointing. But since than I have done well in domestic cricket, in the series against Australia and for Essex," Styris said. "Always wanted to play in the 2011 World Cup and if you put performances on the board you have the right to be picked."

It's been a long time since Styris bowled his full quota of overs, but he insisted there was no move to play as a specialist batsman. "I still want to have a big role with the ball, I have a couple of niggles that are holding me back a bit but I think over the next 6-8 months I will continue bowling hopefully a lot of overs," he said. "While in the past I have bowled 10 overs in every game, maybe now I'll bowl six to seven overs in each." 

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Shane Bond retires from Test cricket

Wellington: Dynamic but injury-prone New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday, saying his body was no longer up to the rigours of the five-day game.

"It's been a tough call, because Test cricket remains the ultimate form of the game, but I'm comfortable I've made the right choice," the 34-year-old said.

Bond's latest comeback in the Test series against Pakistan ended after the first Test -- in which he took eight wickets -- when an abdominal muscle tear ruled him out of the remaining two matches.

"I've worked really hard to get back to Test match fitness -- it's what I've been working towards for the past two years -- and I feel I gave as much as I could," Bond said.

"But looking back, so many of my injuries have come during Test cricket."Unfortunately my body just won't let me continue to play at that level, given the workload and demands of Test cricket."

Bond played only 18 Tests after his debut in 2001 because of a series of injuries and his involvement last year in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

But his pace and swing brought him 87 Test wickets at the impressive average of 22.09. He took five wickets in an innings on five occasions, the most recent against Pakistan in Dunedin last month after his two-year Test absence.

Bond said he remained committed to playing one-day internationals for New Zealand.

"This way I hope I've got a better chance of continuing to play. I hope I'll be able to continue to contribute to the team and to New Zealand cricket fans for a while yet."

He is aiming to rejoin New Zealand for the limited-overs matches against Australia, which start with two Twenty20 internationals in late February.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said he understood Bond's decision.

"Of course we're disappointed that he won't be part of the Test line-up, but New Zealand Cricket supports his decision to focus on limited-overs cricket and hopes that this decision will prolong his international career," he said.

"He remains one of the best fast bowlers in the international game and we're delighted that he's doing all he can to keep playing."

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Injured Bond out of Test series

Shane Bond has been ruled out of the rest of the Test series against Pakistan due to a torn abdominal muscle. Bond was the Player of the Match in the thrilling win in Dunedin, where he took eight wickets for the game in what was his first Test in two years.

Bond suffered minor abdominal discomfort following the 32-run victory and scans on Tuesday revealed a one-centimetre tear in an abdominal muscle. The New Zealand team manager Dave Currie said Bond would be rested from the second and third Tests as a precaution.

Bond has always been injury-prone and up until his ICL defection he had managed to play only 17 Tests in six years. "Just rerun the tapes mate," Bond said, alluding to his never-ending struggle to stay match-fit. "It's not what I expected. There was a little bit of niggle there during the game but during the last session (on Saturday) there was nothing.

"I've had aches and pains there for a long time and when you go into a Test with four bowlers you want peace of mind that everything's fine. I've prepared for this for the last four months. I've bowled a lot of overs in the nets and had the one-day series ... the amount of overs has probably attributed to it but that's cricket."

Bond admitted he didn't want to risk playing the next Test, for the injury, despite not being very serious at this point, could worsen and affect his future prospects. "I could probably play but if I did there was a chance I could blow it completely and then you're out for a long time," he said.

Bond is expected to recover in time for New Zealand's home series against Bangladesh early next year. But he wasn't willing to guarantee anything. "I'm a positive person but I'm also a realist," Bond said. "I don't like doing this, I feel like it lets the team down. I'm sure the team finds it a pain on the backside to have someone coming in and out all the time.

"I'll have to take some time over Christmas and have a think about it and see what we do."

The selectors are likely to name a replacement for Bond by Wednesday, with the second Test set to begin in Wellington on Thursday.

The Dunedin match marked Bond's comeback to Test cricket after he was made ineligible for New Zealand selection due to his decision to play in the ICL.

On a brighter note for New Zealand, Iain O'Brien has had a positive prognosis on his finger, which he dislocated while trying to field off his own bowling. "It's just sore, there's no fractures just a bit of bruising," he said after bowling a couple of gentle deliveries in the nets.

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