McCullum replaced by Lendl Simmons in Brisbane Heat's BBL squad

McCullum to miss the BBL

Brendon McCullum, has declared himself to be unavailable for the Big Bash League (BBL) owing to his national commitments. McCullum was set to play for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL, which starts from December 17, but pulled out due to the Sri Lankan tour to New Zealand that begins on December 10.

"Brendon, the Heat and New Zealand Cricket have worked hard at things but in the end, his commitment to the Black Caps is the priority at this time and we accept that," Daniel Vettori, the Heat coach, said. "Brendon signed a three-year deal originally and we had hoped circumstances would allow more matches this year than has turned out."

Sri Lanka are touring New Zealand for two tests, five ODIs and two T20 internationals in December.

The loss to Brisbane Heat, though, has been compensated to an extent by the inclusion of Lendl Simmons, the swash-buckling West Indies batsman, who’s currenly playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Simmons would be available for the entire BBL season.

McCullum last played in the BBL in the 2011-12 season, which was for the Brisbane Heat. The magnanimity of what the BBL could miss with the withdrawal of McCullum can be estimated by the fact that Brendon McCullum is the highest run-scorer in T20 Internationals in the history of the game, with 2140 runs from 71 matches at a staggering strike-rate of 134.

He also has 6145 runs from 97 Tests, and 5909 runs from 254 ODIs, in a decade-long career. New Zealand reached the final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup under his captaincy, in a tournament where they bettered almost every single opponent, and were within whiskers of owning the cup, before they were bettered by the reigning world champions Australia.