Brendon McCullum agrees to lead New Zealand for another year

Christchurch, June 26 (IANS) New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has ended speculation about his future in international cricket by agreeing to lead his country for another 12 months.

Following New Zealand's first ever World Cup final appearance and a 2-3 limited-overs series loss to England this month, McCullum was undecided on his short term plans in the 50-over game, reports cricket.com.au on Friday.

"I don't know. We'll wait and see," he said earlier when asked about his limited overs future. "We'll let the dust settle on this. It's been a great year, an incredible summer for us. We've scaled some heights that hadn't been done before by our country and we're starting to build a soul to how we play."

But the 33-year-old ended all speculation by signing an agreement with New Zealand cricket on Friday to play for another year. He will lead the team in its home and away series against Australia in the 2015-16 season and the World T20 in India next year.

"It’s a critical time for the side," McCullum said on Friday.

"We’ve enjoyed a pretty good past 18 months, but there are some serious challenges ahead and we need to keep making progress. This is a young, emerging team with some very big series looming on the horizon - and it's really exciting to be involved."