Brendon McCullum: “At the moment he does have his limitations from a body point of view”

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Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum believes that big-hitting batsman Chris Lynn shouldn’t have been included in Australia’s squad for the upcoming ODI series as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Lynn made his return earlier than expected and is currently playing for the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League (BBL). However, when fielding, the Heat have put Lynn in areas where he will avoid a lot of contact with the ball.

Furthermore, the 27-year-old has been seen throwing the ball underarm or using his left hand.

While his shoulder problems don’t seem to have affected his batting as he has scored 127 runs in four matches at an average of 42.33 and a strike-rate of 162.82, McCullum still has doubts about whether the Brisbane native can get through an ODI.

Instead, McCullum feels that Australia should have kept Lynn on ice until the T20 tri-series involving England and New Zealand in February.

“Personally, I would have liked to have seen him being kept until the T20s,” McCullum, who opens the batting with Lynn for the Heat, told Channel Ten as quoted by cricket.com.au. “Then they can introduce him and get him back into the fold.

“But you’d never turn the opportunity to play for his country and I know ‘Lynny’ was very excited about it.”

In addition to his tender shoulder, Lynn also had a hamstring issue earlier in the BBL. To make matters worse, he recently underwent scans on his calf after complaining of tightness.

With all these ailments, McCullum is worried about whether Lynn’s body will hold up in the ODI series against England.

“Unfortunately at the moment he does have his limitations from a body point of view,” he said. “It’s just a matter of looking after him and protecting him in the field. He’ll win you games with the bat.”

Lynn’s inclusion in the ODI squad came at the expense of all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who has struggled to have an impact in his last 20 ODIs.

While Australia captain Steve Smith said that Maxwell needed to “train a little bit smarter”, McCullum admitted that Smith may need to lower his expectations for teammates.

“I don’t necessarily think Steve Smith went into that prepared for that question and to comment on it,” the ex-New Zealand skipper said. “I don’t necessarily think he was trying to have a pop at Glenn Maxwell by any stretch.

“Steve Smith, the advice for him – he is such an amazing player that sometimes you lose a little bit of the understanding that other guys maybe can’t do or don’t do the same things as what you do. That’s the next stage of the Australian captain’s development.

“He’s doing a wonderful job at the moment at leading from the front. I’m sure as he matures, he’ll bring more out of those guys as well.”