Cricket's darling has hit the governing body with the same brutality he showed in his playing days.

Former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum has slammed the ICC for its handling of reported match-fixing at the annual Cowdrey Lecture at the Marylebone [mar-ley-bone] Cricket Club.

McCullum's revealed his dismay at the casual approach ICC anti-corruption officer John Rhodes took when he reported Chris Cairns for match fixing.

He's pummelled the ICC for leaking his testimony, saying players deserve a lot better when they've plucked up the courage to report someone.

"How can the game's governing body expect players to cooperate when confidential statements subsequently find their way into the media?"

"It goes without saying that if players don't have confidence they will be reluctant to report approaches, and it is the game that will be worse off."

He criticised ICC anti-corruption officer John Rhodes for a casual approach at handling evidence.

McCullum said Rhodes took notes on paper, and he was told his evidence would probably end up at the bottom of the file with nothing eventuating.

He's also made note of the significant impact the death of Australian Phillip Hughes had on the New Zealand team.

McCullum's revealed that before day two of their test against Pakistan, he called All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka for advice.

"Most meaningfully, Gilbert said to me all your preparation, all you've ever heard about cricket, throw it out the window for one game. It was like Gilbert took the weight off my shoulders and he gave me a way to deal with what was happening, to realise there were no rights and wrongs and the rulebook could be thrown away."

McCullum also paid tribute to his teammates, saying he has been given far too much credit for the recent success of the Black Caps and their attitude towards the game.