Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has been resigned by Brisbane Heat for the upcoming season of Big Bash League starting from December 19. Mccullum will be associated with Brisbane Heat till 2019 -20 season as will be his opening partner Chris Lynn.
His re-signing comes after Lynn, who's expected to line up alongside McCullum for Heat's season-opener against Melbourne Stars on Wednesday, signed a monster five-year deal reported to be in excess of $1m in October.
"It’s been an important year with the management of our playing list with a large number of players committing to long-term deals including Chris Lynn," Heat general manager Andrew McShea said.
"Brendon’s impact on our club on and off the field is significant and the values that he represents are also those that we see as integral to the Brisbane Heat.
"To extend his contract through to the end of BBL|09, provides our fans, members and commercial partners with a clear identity of our club."
"He has made an excellent recovery from the broken arm and his last three or four innings in Bangladesh were impressive," Heat coach and McCullum's former Black Caps teammate Daniel Vettori said.
"We’re all looking forward to getting straight into our preparations ahead of Wednesday’s game."
McCullum scored 323 runs to be the Heat's leading run-scorer in BBL|06, while Vettori has said the Black Caps legend was able to instill belief in a relatively young squad that saw them climb from sixth to second in the space of a season.
"He gives us a really strong presence and is a really strong leader within the group," Vettori told cricket.com.au recently.
"Obviously he's an amazing captain but I think the way he goes about the game, and the way he can inspire confidence in people, has been the thing the group has enjoyed the most.
"And probably some of them weren't aware that you could play in that (aggressive) manner, so to get that freedom to go out and play the way they wanted to has made a real difference to the unit."
SQUAD: Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Jason Floros, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Shadab Khan (International), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Brendon McCullum (International, Captain), Jimmy Peirson, Matt Renshaw, Alex Ross, Mitchell Swepson, Mark Steketee, Cameron Valente.
