McCullum lives up to his billing

It was never going to be a question of "if" where Brendon McCullum was concerned. He has always been too classy to have to wait a long time before bringing up his maiden Test century. And so, after a near-miss at Lord's in May, where he made 96, McCullum reached three figures in style at Bangabandhu National Stadium today.

In a match that has crept along at a snail's pace, McCullum upped the tempo from the moment he took guard after tea on the second day. By stumps he had accumulated 48 runs from 75 balls including just four boundaries. No surprises there: the McCullum trademark is the ability to develop momentum through his aggressive running between the wickets.

John Bracewell identified McCullum, New Zealand's wicketkeeper, as the hub of his one-day team early in his tenure as New Zealand coach. With a run of tidy performances behind the stumps and consistent returns with the bat, his graduation to the Test side for the home series against South Africa in March was a formality. Seven Tests on, he's run up four half-centuries and, after today's knock, he commands a batting average of 44.54.

McCullum is all about attitude. A star at New Zealand Under-19 level, his response to being asked to open the batting in his first season for his province Otago (2001-02) was a blazing 142 off 148 balls against Auckland. When Stephen Fleming enquired whether he'd be happy to open against the South African spinners on a wearing wicket in his second Test match, McCullum's response was: "Bring it on".

The challenge at the start of play on the third day was to help New Zealand to post a substantial first-innings lead. By his own admission, McCullum was unable to play as freely as he would have liked. The dead wicket and accurate bowling of Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana put paid to that. Yet the runs flowed from his blade and the goal was achieved.

In the first hour McCullum added 27 runs with a further two fours. The dangerous Rafique was picked off with ease, as were the pacemen Tapash Baisya and Tareq Aziz, when the new ball was eventually taken after 100 overs. Wanting to enjoy his lunch, McCullum's tenth boundary, an effortless on-drive from Rafique, carried him to a chanceless century in the final over of the morning session.

Along the way McCullum shared stands of 84 with Jacob Oram (19), 71 with Daniel Vettori (23) and 57 with James Franklin (23). Not only did he score the majority of the runs in those partnerships, the loss of wickets at the other end did not impact negatively on him, as it might have done on a less experienced player.

Once he was past his century, McCullum really cut loose. A pair of glorious sixes flew over the leg-side boundary - one off Rafique, and the second off the first ball of Mohammad Ashraful's first over. He was given a life in between those blows by Nafis Iqbal, but that, and the half-hearted shot which eventually brought about his downfall, were minor blemishes that will be soon forgotten by the newest member of Test cricket's century club.