Middlesex hail “coup” signing of McCullum

Outgoing New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will play for Middlesex in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup next season.

The 34-year-old, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and explosive batsmen in limited-overs cricket, will join up with the club after his involvement with the Indian Premier League ends.

He will be at Lord’s until 25 June, being available for seven T20 Blast matches and four One-Day Cup games, and Middlesex hope he can return to the UK if they qualify for the knockout stages of the two tournaments.

Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, called the signing a “huge coup for the club”.

He said: “He is one of the most respected, capable and dangerous cricketers in world cricket and will create a great deal of excitement around the club. When he walks out to bat everybody stops what they are doing to watch.

“Brendon’s involvement highlights Middlesex’s commitment to white ball cricket.”

McCullum, who this week announced he would retire from international cricket in February, has played in 99 Test matches, 254 one-day internationals and 71 T20 internationals.

He is among a elite group of players to have scored a Test triple hundred, making 302 against India last year, and has also hit 15 hundreds for New Zealand in white-ball cricket.

His highest List A and T20 scores are 170 and 158 respectively.