Brendon McCullum believes a choice to give up the gloves in Test cricket could be the 'worst call' of his career, but says losing the New Zealand vice-captaincy inspired his exceptional 09/10 form.
Fresh from winning New Zealand's best One-Day International batsman, allrounder and fans choice, McCullum also warned against expelling Pakistan from world cricket as the calamitous premeditated no-ball controversy at Lords drags out with four players now implicated.
While there should be 'serve punishment' for those found guilty of the spot-fixing allegations, it was important to isolate the incident.
"You have to separate [four] players from the whole of Pakistan," McCullum said. "It's damaging to Pakistan, it's damaging to world cricket – if we try and label the entire team under this banner."
"The sooner it's dealt with the better."
Baz returns to national duties after a self-imposed break, during which time he celebrated the birth of his nine-week old daughter.
He says he was fortunate to play 209 internationals in succession, without being injured, but the 28-year-old revealed he felt nervous. His place in the Test team – solely as a run-maker – was now 'unproven'.
"This has no side door options for me. It's a gutsy call; it could be the worst call I've made in my career," McCullum said of his fears.
"You go from being one of the major certainties in the team to now being in the mix and being relatively unproven. It's a huge challenge and hopefully it'll be the right decision."
He points to a 34.90 average in 52 Tests as to why he deserves a shot at proving his ability to bat in New Zealand's top three after predominantly coming in at No.7 in the longer form.
"I'm not saying I'll be successful. I'm not saying I deserve to walk straight into the role. I believe I've got a game which can help us win more Test matches by batting at the top of the order."
McCullum was ousted from New Zealand's vice-captaincy in favour of Ross Taylor, a decision he found hard to cope with but one he reckons provided the drive for T20 and Test centuries against Australia this year.
"It wasn't a mutual decision at all. I don't have a leadership role. I went from vice-captain, led with title, to now a senior player," he said bluntly.
"I was lucky enough to put it all behind me and have the best season throughout my career. I'm confident I'm heading in the right direction and don't need a title to contribute to my team."
Amidst continued pressure on ODI's popularity – Australia is the latest country to adopt a 40-over domestic competition – McCullum still enjoys a healthy diet of all three and would hate to see any form diminish.
"There's no doubt it needs a tweak," he said of the 50-over game. "There is periods throughout that game where, because of the advent of T20, now appear a little dull and boring. We've got to tweak it so it captures people for longer."
Not that he could elaborate on what needed 'tweaking'.
And what of New Zealand's chances at the 2011 World Cup in the sub continent, can they finally shake the nearly-men tag?
"If we get too scared to see if we're good enough or not, we won't finish anywhere," McCullum said.
"When that time comes to make this a great team, even though it may not seem like that at the moment, whether we take it or not. That comes down to whether we're hard enough."
New Zealand weren't the most skilful team in the world, but they didn't have to be. Having the right mix of guys who were playing well and had a real belief in their abilities would see them match it with anyone.