Hinting towards drawing curtains on his illustrious cricketing career, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum announced that the current season of the Big Bash League will be his last. McCullum made up his mind after scoring a match-winning half-century on a must-win game for Brisbane Heat against Adelaide Strikers on Sunday.
The Heat's home game against the Melbourne Stars on Friday night will be his last at the Gabba.
Though McCullum will be playing in various T20 leagues in 2019, the 37-year-old is planning of pursuing a coaching career soon.
"I will continue to play T20 cricket in 2019 in various competitions around the world and will then look to transition into a coaching career," McCullum said. "The prospect of being able to transfer the skills, experience and leadership I have been lucky enough to bank over my long T20 and also international career into coaching is very exciting."
The swashbuckling right-hander who led New Zealand to 2015 World Cup finals before announcing his retirement international cricket in 2016, has been a part of the Heat squad for 8 years.
McCullum was bought by the Brisbane-based franchise in the first season of BBL back in 2011. He even led the Heat for two seasons and has nine fifty-plus scores to his name in his 36 appearances for the Heat.
"I have absolutely loved playing for the Heat. The fans have been amazing with their support and I have enjoyed seeing the pleasure they get from coming to our matches and having fun."
"I've had a great time playing with my teammates, and it was a privilege to captain them. Coming into Brisbane each year before the start of the competition was always a highlight."
Notably, after playing 11 seasons of IPL, McCullum for the first time in his career went unsold in the latest auctions that took place in December last year for IPL 2019.