If it doesn’t sound too pompous, I would like to call the year 2006 a phoenix year in cricketing terms. Just when everybody thought that Jayasuriya and Ganguly provided with enough material for romantic moments of comebacks, they got the last and the most romantic comeback story from Craig McMillan. Just when everybody thought that Ganguly’s fairytale phoenix act was the highlight, McMillan provided with another romantic story. Today when he blasted a scintillating century off just 67 deliveries he scripted another impressive revival story. His century not only revived his own fortune but also has revived the spirit of Black Caps and has delivered the last blow to deteriorating confidence level of the Aussies.Ganguly’s saga dominated entire media for obvious reasons. But 
McMillan’s fall from the top had been equally unbelievable if not sensational. From captaining the Kiwi side at a young age of 24 to losing the place in side and subsequently losing his contract with the cricket board, he actually suffered a lot. His inconsistency was a blemish on his sublime talent. Earlier in his career he played some heroic knocks, some swashbuckling knocks (hitting 26 runs in an over in a test), and some match-saving knocks also (most notably against India at Ahmedabad in 2003). New Zealand’s tour of India in 2003 established him as one of the most valuable players for the New Zealand squad. But after that his decline commenced. So much so that he was left out on Bangladesh and Australia tours in 2004 . When he was ignored for selection due to injuries and poor form after appearing against Australia at home in January 2005, people assumed he was forgotten for good. Emergence of Jacob Oram as a hard hitting all-rounder, Scott Styris as a dependable batting all rounder and Daniel Vettori improving his batting skills on leaps and bounds, rendered McMillan’s all-round but inconsistent skills almost inutile. Eventually he wasn't even offered the central contract in 2006.
McMillan’s fall from the top had been equally unbelievable if not sensational. From captaining the Kiwi side at a young age of 24 to losing the place in side and subsequently losing his contract with the cricket board, he actually suffered a lot. His inconsistency was a blemish on his sublime talent. Earlier in his career he played some heroic knocks, some swashbuckling knocks (hitting 26 runs in an over in a test), and some match-saving knocks also (most notably against India at Ahmedabad in 2003). New Zealand’s tour of India in 2003 established him as one of the most valuable players for the New Zealand squad. But after that his decline commenced. So much so that he was left out on Bangladesh and Australia tours in 2004 . When he was ignored for selection due to injuries and poor form after appearing against Australia at home in January 2005, people assumed he was forgotten for good. Emergence of Jacob Oram as a hard hitting all-rounder, Scott Styris as a dependable batting all rounder and Daniel Vettori improving his batting skills on leaps and bounds, rendered McMillan’s all-round but inconsistent skills almost inutile. Eventually he wasn't even offered the central contract in 2006.When he was recalled to New Zealand side to play against Sri Lanka in absence of injured Oram and Styris, everyone thought it was a stopgap arrangement. He looked overweight but not out of touch. After failing in the first game against Sri Lanka, it was his patient batting performance in New Zealand’s record defeat at Auckland, which helped him book a place in the side touring Australia for CB series. (In one of the most shameful batting performances in its history, New Zealand got out for just 73 runs. However, McMillan was the only batsman to show application and persistence in his unbeaten innings of 29.) His useful bowling and a couple of impressive knocks including more than run-a-ball 89 against Australia at Sydney cemented his place in the side. Finally, it was McMillan's perfirmance in the last two games of the pre-world cup season where he played up to his potential in some years. His electrifying knocks of 52 and 110 not only tumbled some batting records of his country but also helped New Zealand achieve the second and the third highest run chases in the history of one-day cricket in back-to-back matches.
The guy who had lost all hopes and was actually applying for sales jobs during off-season is now one of the main batsmen of the Kiwis side. All his admirers would be praying that this time his purple patch extends for a longer period. Good news for New Zealand is that now McMillan will go to the Caribbean with the rest of the team on a high. Not only that, but with Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent, Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming and McMillan all in great form, they can enter the world cup arena with a serious chance to win.
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