This moment has its origin story way back in 1991, when Martin Crowe batted for 610 minutes to save a test match against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve, only to be snicked out in the dying moments of the game for 299. As a kid I was gutted, not only was Martin Crowe my favourite player, but New Zealand still did not have a triple centurion. But surely a great player like Crowe would be able to get there again, alas it was not to be and New Zealand cricket fans would have to wait another 23 years.
In eerily similar circumstances to Crowe, Brendon McCullum, batting to save a match at the Basin Reserve, entered the fifth day of the second test against India in 2014, 19 runs short of 300. People took the day off work to pack out the Basin Reserve in the hope of witnessing this magic moment live. I was living in London at the time, so I got the pleasure of watching it from my couch in the evening, after a full day of heightening anticipation. And McCullum did not disappoint (even if he did have a shaky moment on 293), on 298 a cut to the third man boundary finally gave New Zealand cricket fans what they had been waiting for, our first ever triple hundred! But it wasn’t just the New Zealand public that had a weight lifted off their shoulders, in a brilliantly penned Cricinfo article by Crowe himself he described how McCullum’s innings had “finally removed the one remaining stone in my shoe”.
If you don't know what I’m talking about, you can relive it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTTbChrk8q0. Enjoy!
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