KIWI bashing is a favourite sport in Australia, but Brendon McCullum has definitely earnt this country’s respect.

The former New Zealand skipper played more than 100 Tests and led his country to a World Cup final in 2015. He was the most exciting batsman of his generation and won admiration around the world for his swashbuckling strokeplay and ultra-aggressive captaincy.

His leadership brought the best out of a Kiwi team that for too long was dwelling in mediocrity. He led the way and his players followed.

But it almost never happened.

By the end of his career McCullum was a natural leader, but earlier on, not everyone was convinced of his captaincy credentials. He — along with Ross Taylor — had to audition for the role of skipper in a job interview type scenario when Daniel Vettori stepped down after the 2011 World Cup.

Speaking to broadcaster Mark Howard — who is commentating the Big Bash for Channel 10 — on his podcast The Howie Games, McCullum opened up on what a joke the selection process was.

“They asked Ross and I to push our cases in a presidential style election to present Powerpoint presentations for the captaincy. It was ridiculous to be honest,” McCullum told Howard.

“It was in a meeting room with Powerpoint presentations and all that. It was just a crock of s***. it was terrible.

“If I made a mistake anywhere along the road it was actually doing that, it’s ridiculous.

“If someone wants you as captain then they want you as captain, if they don’t well so be it, it’s not your right that you should be captain … You’re either captaincy material and someone wants you in that time or you’re not.”

McCullum eventually took charge and will go down as one of New Zealand’s best ever captains. Source: Supplied

The captaincy debacle that followed was a sore point not just in McCullum’s career but for New Zealand cricket. Taylor got the job but tough times followed, as did talk of disunity and angst among the playing group.

“What that did is it drove a wedge between those who supported Ross and him and those who supported me and myself … within the team and also outside the team,” McCullum said.

“It was difficult at the time (getting passed over as captain) … only because I felt I had something to offer. In hindsight I wasn’t ready for the captaincy either so in a strange way it’s kind of the best thing that could have happened, but it didn’t feel like that at that point in time.”

There were rumours McCullum wasn’t getting on with Taylor, and in 2012 the problems continued when Mike Hesson replaced John Wright as national team coach. Hesson and Taylor’s relationship wasn’t working and the boss dumped Taylor in favour of McCullum.

“You had to be an idiot not to work out those two weren’t getting on … in the end, the new coach Mike Hesson decided he wanted to make a change, so he axed Ross and installed me as captain.

“A lot of people thought that I’d run a coup to get myself in as captain and to be honest, I don’t give two s**ts about it. By that stage, I’d come to the decision in my head that it’s never actually going to eventuate.”

Ross Taylor didn’t get on with Mike Hesson. Source: Getty Images

There was another twist: Initially, he was offered just the ODI and T20 captaincy, with Taylor again offered the Test leadership. When Taylor declined, McCullum was offered all three jobs as the lone NZ skipper.

The now 35-year-old admitted he had to think long and hard about accepting the gig, his wife telling him his only two options were to take on the role in all three formats or retire - given any new captain wouldn’t want two disgruntled leadership aspirants hanging around and undermining his position. Thankfully for cricket fans, McCullum chose the former, rather than opting to bow out early and chase the riches of domestic T20 tournaments - in which he estimated he could have made “four, five times what you’d make playing for New Zealand”.

McCullum retired from international cricket early last year with more than 6000 Test runs and 12 tons in the whites to his name. His record is just as impressive with the colours, scoring five ODI centuries and boasting a strike rate of over 96 across his 260 matches.

Watching him in the Big Bash this summer where he captains the Brisbane Heat, McCullum’s attacking instincts have not waned at all in international retirement. He’s just as aggressive with the bat and he’s constantly changing fields to stay ahead of the game.

Married to an Australian, it’s a shame we never claimed him as our own.