Brendon McCullum to miss pink ball preparations under lights due to Chris Cairns' case
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum is set to miss his side’s two-day practice session under lights with the pink Kookaburra ball in Hamilton, cricket.com.au reports. The 34-year-old is due to testify in the perjury case of Chris Cairns, the hearing for which begins on Monday.
According to New Zealand Herald, the former New Zealand all-rounder has pleaded not guilty to a charge of making a false statement in saying that he "never, ever cheated at cricket and nor would [he] contemplate doing such a thing" in a successful defamation case he took against former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi.
He is set to defend any allegations of wrongdoing in relation to match-fixing claims made by former teammate Lou Vincent who will also be present as a witness. Along with McCullum, former cricketers Stephen Fleming, Shane Bond, Andre Adams and New Zealand Cricket chief David White will provide evidence in the case.
New Zealand are set to take on Australia in the first ever day-night Test match in the final match of the three-Test series starting November 27. The match will be played with a pink ball specially designed for use in night conditions and the unusual match ball has warranted special practice sessions to be employed to get used to.
New Zealand’s opening batsman Tom Latham, however, believes that the team can cope up in spite of the absence of McCullum.
"We've got plenty of leaders in the group, there are plenty of senior players so we'll go about our business as if we would if he was there," Latham told Fairfax NZ. "We're certainly looking forward to getting together next week (in Hamilton), and getting a bit of pink ball training and then we can go from there. Kane [Williamson] has captained us a little bit in the past, and there are plenty of other senior players.”
“You know it's certainly about doing what we've been doing and there are a lot of senior guys, but I think everyone plays a key role in that part as well, and we'll be going about our business the same sort of way."
Speaking about his personal experiences of training with the pink ball so far, Latham said: "I've had one hit against it, and we're up in Hamilton next week pink ball training, but I've been trying to focus on the other two Tests as well. It'll be interesting. I'm certainly looking forward to creating a bit of history. I think if we put any pressure on ourselves then you know things might not go so well. But if we keep doing the same things as we've been doing over the last 12 to 18 months then hopefully those results do come as well."