Brendon McCullum to hang his boots next year

Baz will play his last match against Australia starting from Feb 20 at Hagley Oval.

Making his decision known, the prolific wicket-keeper batsman said, "“Ideally, I would have preferred to wait until after the ANZ Test in Christchurch to make this news public."

Baz said, "However, the schedule for naming the ICC World T20 squads means I couldn’t have managed this without causing a lot of confusion and speculation – something I was keen to avoid."

Expressing his delight at being able to lead his team, McCullum thanked his team mates and said that all good things has to come to and end.

"I’ve loved my opportunity to play for, and captain the BLACKCAPS, but all good things have to come to an end, and I’m just grateful for the wonderful experience of playing for my country."

Though he retired, he said that it is not yet time for him to reflect on his career and is focused on helping his team ahead of the various serious thay are going to play.

"For now, I’ll be giving all my attention to helping the team focus on what’s coming up over the next few weeks – and making sure we’re in the best possible shape for what’s going to be a very challenging summer."

"There’s a time and place for reflection and that’s at the end of your career," McCullum said.

New Zealand is set to miss McCullum who will not be playing in the upcoming T20 World Cup and in his absence Kane Williamson will guide the team.

The Blackcaps cricket boss, David White was all praise for the about to retire star.

He said, "We’ll celebrate Brendon’s wonderful contribution to New Zealand and world cricket at the end of the season but, for now – we want to help him prepare for the upcoming seven weeks with the minimum of distractions."