International career
He made his test debut against India on 2 January 1993 at Cape Town and made 46 in the first innings following it up with a score of 28 in the second innings and ultimately the test ended in a draw. [19] He made his ODI debut on 9 February 1993 against Pakistan at Durban during the 1992–93 Total International Series but he was dismissed for a silver duck by Waqar Younis as Pakistan registered a stunning 10 run victory defending a modest total of just 208 despite the heroics of Andrew Hudson for South Africa in the run chase. [20]
He was in the center stage of South Africa's batting lineup ever since South Africa was readmitted to international cricket in the 1990s. Cullinan was known for his ability to produce fine test innings under pressure situations at any conditions and he delivered in most of the occasions except for in Australian conditions. In 1994,in the third test of the series against England at The Oval,he stood firm and scored crucial 94 runs which accounted for 54% of the team total whereas other batsmen around him fell prey to Devon Malcolm as Malcolm decimated the Proteas with 9/57 and South Africa crumbled to 175 all out. [21] [22] He was an integral member of the South African which won the four nation Sameer Cup 1996–97 where South Africa emerged victorious in the final after defeating Pakistan by 7 wickets. [23]
He was part of the South African squad which reached quarter-finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. [24] During the quarter-final he top-scored for Proteas with 69 runs but it was in vain as West Indies won the match by a narrow margin of 19 runs. [25] He played a key role in South Africa's triumph over India in the final of the 1996–97 Standard Bank International One-Day Series where he top-scored in the final with 60 runs. [26] He was also the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 300 runs. He was a member of the side which claimed the 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup which was played between South Africa,Pakistan and India. [27] He was a crucial key element to South Africa's triumph in the inaugural edition of the ICC KnockOut Trophy in 1998 where South Africa recorded their first ever ICC title win by defeating fancied West Indies in the final by chasing 246. [28] [29] [30] He opened the batting throughout the tournament despite having played primarily in the position of number 4 or lower in previous occasions. [31]
On 27 January 1999,in an ODI against the West Indies he was given out for handling the ball to become the first South African in 42 years to be dismissed in that fashion after Russell Endean. [32] Facing the West Indian spinner Keith Arthurton,Cullinan fended the ball off into the ground. It bounced high in the air,and Cullinan removed his right hand from his bat to catch it as it fell again. [33] Despite the fact that it was unlikely that the ball would land near the stumps,the West Indies captain,Brian Lara,appealed,and Cullinan was dismissed. [34] By the time,he was batting on 46 and was ruled out by the umpires to become only the second batsman after Mohinder Amarnath to be given out for handling the ball in ODI history. [35]
In the first test of the New Zealand tour at Auckland in March 1999,he registered his career best highest test score of 275* which propelled South Africa to pile up a huge first innings total of 621/5 before the declaration call came from South African skipper Hansie Cronje,effectively dented the opportunity for Cullinan to convert his maiden double century to a triple century. [36] [37] [38]
He spent 658 or 659 minutes (10 hours 59 minutes) nearly 11 hours in the crease during his marathon knock and also surpassed the record of Graeme Pollock for the then highest ever individual score by a batsman for South Africa in test cricket. [39] [40] His record stood for a long time but was later shattered by Hashim Amla who scored 311* against England in 2013. As of 2022,it stands as the 4th highest score by a South African in tests.
He was part of the infamous 1999 Cricket World Cup campaign where South Africa choked in the crucial moment of their World Cup semi-final against Australia as South Africa were bowled out for 213 resulting in a tie and as a result narrowly losing their way to reach the final on the back of an inferior net run rate. [41] [42] The epic choke by South Africa which was caused due to a terrible mix-up between player of the tournament Lance Klusener and tail-ender Allan Donald was proven costly and later the iconic moment was dubbed as the “birth of the chokers tag”. [43] [44] Cullinan himself played a part in South Africa's humiliating tie as he wasted as many deliveries in his sluggish innings scoring only 6 runs off 30 balls at a mediocre strike rate of 20.
In November 1999,he drew level with Gary Kirsten and Dudley Nourse with most test centuries by a South African batter in test cricket when he scored his ninth test hundred in the first test of the five match home test series against England at the Wanderers. [45] [46] He was adjudged the player of the series for his contributions with the bat throughout the series scoring 386 runs but the series was overshadowed and marred by Hansie Cronje's decision to forfeit a test innings in the fifth and final test to ensure a result rather than a draw. [47] [48] He further demonstrated his batting prowess in the first test of the Sri Lankan tour at spin friendly turning tracks in Galle International Stadium in 2000 where he went onto score a career defining century and managed to counter the threat of spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan during the knock. [49] [50] [51] He was part of the South African side which clinched the 2000 Singapore Challenge which was played as a tri-nation tournament among South Africa,New Zealand and Pakistan. [52]
In January 2001,when he scored his 12th test century during the second test match at Cape Town against Sri Lanka,he broke the then South African record of most test centuries which was held by Gary Kirsten at that time. [53] He attempted to opt out of ODI cricket at the end of the 2001 season but he was thrown under the bus by Cricket South Africa as undue pressure was inserted on him to sign a new two-year contract. [54] [55]
However,things turned swiftly as he announced his international retirement in 2002 under chaotic circumstances mainly due to a dispute with the cricket board. [56] However,after the announcement of his retirement he was soon recalled back to the team for the home test series against Australia in the same season. [57] He recovered from a knee injury which he sustained prior to the series but he was not included in the playing XI for the first test. He was however drafted into the team for the second test replacing Boeta Dippenaar. [58] He dropped a bombshell by suddenly pulling out from the squad withdrawing himself just hours before the eve of the second test match at Cape Town in an unceremonious way and flew to Johannesburg immediately. [59] [60] [61] There were rumors circulated that he may have even captained the team had he made himself available on the absence of Shaun Pollock for the second test due to Pollock being a doubtful starter for the test if the latter had failed the late fitness test. [62] [63] The board clarified that it couldn't meet the set expectations and certain demands made by Cullinan which led to contractual dispute. He later issued a public apology regarding the lasy minute withdrawal from the Australia series. [64]
Shane Warne's bunny
Cullinan scored only 153 runs averaging 12.75 in seven test matches against Australia,falling to Shane Warne on four occasions. [65] Cullinan also fell to Warne eight times in One-Day Internationals. [66] Sources such as the Herald Sun quote Cullinan as being Shane Warne's bunny.
He struggled against Warne's bowling and mental attacks. [67] [68] [69] Warne acknowledged that he tried to sledge and intimidate Cullinan. [70] [71] Cullinan sought help from a sports psychologist,and after his retirement Cullinan mentioned “Warne was too good for me”. [72] [67] It is believed that Cullinan tried too hard against Australia in order to make up for the missed opportunities in his first two tours to Australia,when he underperformed despite his batting credentials. [73]
During South Africa's Super Six match against Australia at the 1999 World Cup,he was again bowled by Shane Warne. [74]
