Brendon McCullum humbled to receive New Zealand Sportsman of the Year award

McCullum humbled to receive New Zealand Sportsman of the Year award

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year award on Wednesday as he became the first cricketer to receive New Zealand’s coveted award since former captain Martin Crowe in 1991.

The 33-year old won the Sportsman of the Year but missed the Halberg Award, which went to Olympic and World rowing pair champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.

“It’s really humbling but when you play a team sport individual accolades aren’t what you play for,” McCullum was quoted in a report by The Hindu.

“But at the same time I’m respectful of the whole awards and all those other recipients of awards. This one is very much for the boys as well,” he further added.

The Kiwi skipper had scored 302 against India at the Basin Reserve last February which was voted by the public as New Zealand’s Sports Moment of the Year and opined that the awards would help his side before they face Sri Lanka on Saturday.

“For cricket to be in that spotlight is a good thing and right on the eve of the World Cup can only help the momentum the team’s built up,” he quipped after their series victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan and against South Africa in their final warm-up clash on Wednesday.

“It was a really good performance, especially against a strong South African team,” he later added.