Two captains at opposite ends of their careers passed each other on diverging trajectories as Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets at Christchurch on Wednesday to sweep the two-test series.
Brendon McCullum, for New Zealand, made the fastest century in test cricket history, took four catches, bowled four overs for three runs and manipulated his field and bowlers with typical ingenuity but couldn't prevent his last international match ending in defeat. McCullum now passes into retirement after a 14-year career in which he played 101 consecutive tests, 260 one-day internationals and 71 Twenty20 internationals.
Steve Smith fitted more comfortably into the captaincy he inherited last season after the retirement of Michael Clarke, leading Australia to its third test series win of the southern summer. Australia beat New Zealand at home and away and swept the West Indies to confidently launch a new era under the 26-year-old Smith, who is also their premier batsman.
As one career ends and the other gains momentum, both teams faced the future in confident mood. McCullum is certain that New Zealand, who will now be led by Kane Williamson, will continue the success it has enjoyed on his watch over the past two years.
And Smith is equally certain that Australia, which reclaimed its place as the top-ranked test nation with its series victory, has the players and direction to begin a new period of international success.
''We want to win every series we play, we want to win a lot more away from home and I thought that was a good start for us,'' Smith said.
He said the most pleasing aspect of the series in New Zealand was ''the way we were able to adapt to the different conditions'', a bugbear for Australia in the recent past.
Australia's bowling attack was depleted by the retirement of Mitchell Johnson and an injury to Mitchell Starc but it still dominated the eight test matches it played this summer.
New batsmen also made their mark in the Australian team, among them the opener Joe Burns who scored 170 in Christchurch, Usman Khawaja who has been prolific and Adam Voges who has 1,337 runs at 95.5 since his test debut aged 35 last year.
''A reason that we've had a lot of success the last little bit is that we've scored a lot of hundreds,'' Smith said. ''From all the players, they've all got different plans and we go about it differently but all the guys are really confident in their skills at the moment and I think it's really good for Australian cricket.''
McCullum said Australia had proven why it is the best test team in the world.
''When you arrived here we thought we were a chance but you blew us off the field in both test matches,'' he said.
McCullum said he ended his 14-year career with some sadness but also left with confidence in the future of New Zealand cricket.
''It means everything to these players to represent their country with pride and passion and to try to do it with a smile on their face as well,'' McCullum said. ''We've had some fun over the last two or three years, I reckon. We've achieved some cool things, we've lost one or two games as well but, hey, we've got our soul back.
''I know that with the group that's going to take this team forward we've got some great leaders and some even better men. I firmly believe this team will go to a new level in the next couple of years.''
