It's just plain weird that they promote McCullum to open in Tests, yet demote him for ODI's.
He should be playing the same types of innings in both formats. While he hasn't converted very well in ODI's, I feel the rich vein of form he has found in Test match cricket could have easily continued in the shorter format. I don't know why the hell they would want to use him in a less effective position. Franklin did well down the order in India, and if McCullum did score well at the top of the order the rest of the batting line-up should benefit from that.
Down the order, I can just see him being wasted like he was before he moved up to open. Yeah, maybe he will produce a 50 (35) type innings in a chase like he did before, but how often are the top order going to produce a platform for such an innings? Most of the time he will probably be there in a lost cause and never actually get a chance with the field up, where I think he is most dangerous.
Adding to that, McCullum himself obviously wants to open, so let him open ffs.
I was thinking in India that it would be awesome if he could show that Test form in ODI's. He got injured, came back and made a couple of low scores, and then he got demoted, not even getting a chance to perform.
Such a great way to prepare a side for a major tournament. Shift them around, so even they don't know which role is wanted of them. Destroy there confidence completely.
All they needed was a good couple of wins, and they would have been a lot more confident. Everybody knows what our best XI is, and beside from Ryder in Napier and Vettori in Hamilton, there have been no real injuries (for once), yet that line-up has been used ZERO times.
The selectors can GAGF