New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum has dropped his defamation action against former test player John Parker after Parker retracted and apologized for comments linking McCullum to the sacking of his predecessor Ross Taylor.
McCullum's lawyers on Tuesday issued a statement in which Parker withdrew his claim that McCullum had advance knowledge of coach Mike Hesson's intention to remove Taylor as New Zealand captain.
The claim was contained in a nine-page document issued by Parker and endorsed by a number of former New Zealand players which condemned the way in which Taylor's sacking was handled.
In Tuesday's statement Parker said he "did not intend to discredit Brendon McCullum and sincerely apologizes to him for any harm to his reputation which may have been caused."