The reign of Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum is about to end.
Baz as the 34-year-old's known to his team-mates is leading the New Zealand cricket time for the final team when they play Australia in the second Test at Hagley Park in Christchurch.
Brendon McCullum in his penultimate Test match Photo: Photosport
McCullum played his first international game for New Zealand in a one day international against Australia in 2002 and made his Test debut two years later, against South Africa in 2004.
McCullum won't have fond memories of his 100th Test.
Having scored a duck and just 10 at the Basin Reserve, he will be hoping to head off into retirement with a few runs under his belt and a rare Test win over Australia.
"You come into the game with huge expectations and you want to do well but sometimes your results don't marry up to the ambitions you have but I'm really excited about the last test match and the opportunity to play against a very good Australian team and if we can find a way to win the last test match it will be a very exciting moment for everyone involved," said McCullum.
The team marked McCullum's final Test with a special cap presentation ahead of the game but coach Mike Hesson said any other celebrations would be after the match.
Brendon McCullum and his successor as Black Caps captain Kane Williamson (right). Photo: Photosport
While McCullum is playing his last Test, Canterbury batsman Henry Nicholls was playing just his second.
Despite the innings loss in the first match in Wellington, he was confident they could turn things around and said they shouldn't over-analyse what went wrong at the Basin Reserve.
"Sometimes when you lose you can look into a lot of things that went wrong and things did go wrong for us in Wellington," Nicholls said.
"But for us it's about keeping things nice and simple and not being too caught up in the big occasion, obviously it being Brendan's last game... but his philosophy is to go out and enjoy yourself and that's what we are trying to focus on."
Hesson didn't believe McCullum's departure was a distraction.
"We win we don't get too high and when we lose we don't get too down on ourselves and that's the reason we've been so consistent in recent times," he said.
McCullum was always earmarked for top honours, the former New Zealand cricket captain Ken Rutherford said.
Rutherford played alongside McCullum's father Stu for Otago and saw a lot of both Brendon and his older brother Nathan as they grew up.
They would often turn up at Otago's practices and scurry around returning balls to the bowlers at net sessions.
"He is the heartbeat of the side, the character behind the rejeuvenation of our cricketing fortunes in the last two to three years," Rutherford said.
"Brendon is a real livewire. He just loves playing for New Zealand. He could have taken the easy money years ago and said 'I'm going to be a T20 specialist' and made more money doing that (but) he loves being part of the whole Kiwi cricket culture and he will be very proud in years to come when he looks back on the legacy he has left."
A Test victory against Australia is something McCullum craves. It would level the series at 1-1 and also be the first win over an Australian side in New Zealand since 1993.