BBL 2021-22 – Colin Munro accepts international career probably over, but there are still questions

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Back at the Perth Scorchers for yet another BBL, he believes his decision to play last year was a major reason why he lost his place in New Zealand

Colin Munro insists he has moved on from likely seeing the end of his international career, though he believes his record still holds up against others at the top of New Zealand’s order.

When he was left out of New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad, Munro said his career seemed to have ended “not by choice.” He had made himself unavailable for pre-World Cup trips to Bangladesh and Pakistan, but points to his decision to play Big Bash last season for the Perth Scorchers – where he returns this summer – as probably the decisive moment.

It continues to leave Munro confused as Adam Milne was able to leave his New Zealand home contract to play for the Sydney Thunder, but he is confident he made the best decision for himself and his family.

“Yeah, at the time, to be honest, I was very disappointed,” Munro said. “But now I’ve made peace with it, towards the end of my career I can not be too bitter.

“I’ve grown up a little bit. If it was 25 or 26-year-old Colin who got that information, I would have been around too much on social media. Whereas now I’ve just started my business and know that the chapter “I’m probably closed. And I’m just so lucky that there are some leagues around the world that I can still play and be looked after pretty well.”

“I’m pretty comfortable. I think what probably hurt me the most was coming to Scorcher’s last year and not playing home summer. Then I asked Milney [Adam Milne], he gave up his contract and I was kind of told that it is to compare apples and oranges. So I just let it go.

“Financially for me, and it’s not always about finances, but when you have two kids and you try to set them up as well as you can, it was a no brainer for me to come over and play.”

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Munros last T20I came in February 2020 against India. Since cricket resumed in the midst of the pandemic, he has played CPL, BBL, PSL and the Hundred. This year he has an average of 38.39 with a strike rate of 130.46 and has passed 1000 runs for the second time in a calendar year after his productive 2018 where he made 1530 runs at 34.00.

“My records are there and everyone can look at them,” he said. “But since I opened batting three, four years ago, my numbers are really, really good. But it’s not always about the numbers, I also think I fit in really well with the team, offering a little bit of leadership, which probably would Help play franchise cricket where you go in as an overseas player and try to give back to that environment as much as you can. “

He admitted that it was difficult at times to watch the T20 World Cup, where New Zealand finished in second place, especially when they changed pace and opened with Daryl Mitchell, but admitted that the success the team has had means it is difficult to find gaps in the decisions made.

“It was a little hard,” he said. “Especially when you see someone who doesn’t open batting but gives credit to Daryl Mitchell, he hit really well.

“All the things that Gary Stead is doing at the moment, and Kane Williamson, they are ticking off quite nicely. So you can not really go up against them and say they are not doing their job as well as they can. I saw so many of the games because I made a little bit of TV [work] which was probably pretty good for me. You try to analyze the game and think more about it instead of just sitting back and being a little bitter about not being there. “

He’s still a bit unsure of what role he’s going to play for the Scorchers this season, but expects it to be either opening or No. 4 due to Mitchell Marsh’s form as No. 3 for Australia in recent months. Marsh is likely to be absent from the club’s first two matches due to be part of Australia’s A squad.

Andrew McGlashan is the Vice Editor at ESPNcricinfo