Brendon McCullum and New Zealand maintain class even in the face of crushing World Cup defeat

Reflecting on the cricket World Cup final, Paul Radley explains why New Zealand and their incomparable captain, Brendon McCullum, deserve huge praise for their conduct both in the final and throughout the tournament.

Brendan McCullum, centre, and his New Zealand team look on dejected after losing the cricket World Cup final. William West / AFP

MELBOURNE // There was no sulking, no tears — not that we got to see, anyway.

There were no emotionally distraught players needing to be lifted from the floor by equally shattered teammates, as happened with the vanquished South Africans in the semi-final in Auckland.

There were a lot of handshakes, a couple of hugs and a patient, polite wait for the euphoric Australians to complete their team celebrations before passing on some words of ­congratulations.

After a tournament in which their performances had captivated the audience like never before, New Zealand even lost well.

The adage goes that nobody remembers the guys who finish second. Let us hope that is not the case this time.

The game will be worse off if the side of Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill and the rest is forgotten about.

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McCullum was the most thrilling player at this competition. Had New Zealand won the final, he would certainly have been named the player of the tournament — an award that went to his conqueror in the match, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc.

The New Zealand captain’s statistics, other than his extraordinary strike rate, were nothing to write home about. His run haul was only 16th best in the World Cup.

Yet he was unquestionably the overarching personality in the competition, leading with both verve, skill and dignity.

He is a class act. After the game, he refused to be drawn on the futures of any of his ­players.

Vettori, 36, is almost certain to retire, while McCullum, 33, is the same age as the Australia captain Michael Clarke, who has played his last ODI.

Those sorts of announcements can wait, though, according to McCullum. It is not the loser’s place to set the new agenda, he reasoned.

“We’ll be gracious in defeat,” he said. “It is the right thing to allow Australia to bask in the glory of this moment.”

He was pushed on whether Australia’s players were over the top in the aggressive send offs they gave — in particular — Guptill, Grant Elliott and Vettori when each was out. It was unquestionably ugly cricket, ill-befitting an occasion such as this.

McCullum, though, said they were just minor issues, which he would not dwell on because he did not want to detract from Australia’s achievement.

He even ventured the suggestion that Australia winning was a romantic denouement, given the retiring Clarke’s central role in the action.

McCullum’s grace under pressure was magnificent to witness. So, too, the general stoicism of his team.

“We have left nothing out there in terms of character and attitude,” he said.

When all the grandstanding was starting at the post-match presentation, Mark Nicholas, the master of ceremony and master of hyperbole, gave a salute to Vettori.

The spinner, arms folded, scratching his beard, gave a modest, self-conscious wave, which seemed to say: “Cheers, but is there any chance of getting out of here ASAP?”

New Zealand’s players had a long while to get used to the disappointment — most of the day, in truth.

After McCullum had played all over a straight one from Starc on the third ball of the match to lose his off stump, their demise seemed written.

Grant Elliott, who had missed his sister’s wedding for this, fought the good fight. But it was all too much for the World Cup co-hosts.

The Black Caps were overwhelmed by the best team in the competition, performing to the peak of their powers, on their own patch and on the sort of stage they are used to. There is no shame in that.

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