At a time when he’s seeing more and more of his teammates opt for life as short-form freelancers, New Zealand white-ball captain Mitchell Santner’s priority is making the Black Caps as strong as possible.
Since 2022, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the Black Caps have been caught in a tug of war for the services of New Zealand’s premier players, as the sport fragments further and further into an international versus franchise landscape.
This summer, as the Black Caps build to the Twenty20 World Cup at the start of next year, five players have committed to NZC on casual playing deals.
Kane Williamson, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert, Finn Allen and Lockie Ferguson have all pledged to make themselves available for New Zealand, provided it does not clash with franchise commitments.
However, while that number now sits at five casually contracted players, it was only two this time 12 months ago, and one in 2023.
NZC’s approach, though, is admirable in the fact the national body has found a solution to what Black Caps coach Rob Walter labelled “the biggest challenge in the game”, accepting it will never be able to offer the riches of the franchise world.
In contrast, the likes of South Africa and the West Indies have struggled to keep their best players committed to the international game.
And as the white-ball captain at a time when the Black Caps are building to yet another global tournament, Santner accepts that his teammates will do what’s right for themselves, in terms of both earnings and lifestyle available outside of the international game.
“It’s a hard one with the amount of opportunities there are now,” Santner told the Herald. “As a T20 player in our system, it can be challenging at times just to get contracts.
“These guys on casual deals go away, they’re still playing good cricket. There’s commitment both ways; we want them to be available for stuff leading in.
“You have to treat it for what it is. You want your best players playing at peak events. It’s [about] keeping everyone happy. We all want these boys to buy into a purpose as a team going forward, and they do.
“All these guys still have the drive to play for New Zealand, it’s about keeping these guys happy and performing.”
Santner’s views on casual contracts bely his own position. As one of the world’s premier white-ball players, he would be well within his rights to follow suit and chase a franchise career of his own.
At 33, he’s already logged stints playing franchise cricket in England, India, the Caribbean and the USA.
In fact, given Santner has played for Indian giants the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he spends the year travelling the globe, going from competition to competition for his teams’ sister sides.
That scenario has already been seen by Black Caps teammates Trent Boult with Mumbai and Devon Conway with Chennai.
And yet, despite the huge sums of money on offer, Santner outlines that building a Black Caps side that players want to be part of is his main priority.
“I’m pretty happy getting the odd gig here and there, but still playing as much as I can for New Zealand,” he said.
“Now I’m in a leadership space, you want to build the environment that everyone wants to be in.
“It’s always going to be a challenge with the schedule, but you want it to be a safe place where everyone enjoys coming back, and I think guys do.
“You experience the odd franchise, but guys want to come back and play for New Zealand. That’s ultimately where you want the environment to be.
“That’s driven by not just me, but senior players and staff. I’m pretty happy where we are at the moment.”
Santner’s words are personified in his actions. Even after being ruled out of the summer-opening T20 Chappell-Hadlee series with Australia, Santner has still spent the week with the Black Caps in Mount Maunganui, helping out where he can.
That team environment will be crucial, if New Zealand are to end a wait for white-ball silverware that will have stretched to a 26th year by the time the T20 World Cup begins next year.
While the Black Caps did lift the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, they were also bested in that year’s T20 World Cup final, as well as this year’s Champions Trophy.
On the biggest of stages, also including the now-infamous 2019 World Cup final, this New Zealand side have shown they do more than punch above their weight.
Next year’s World Cup, though, will see Santner lead the Black Caps to his second global tournament in as many years. It’s a schedule he will need to get used to as well – there will be at least one pinnacle event per year until 2031 at the earliest.
But regardless of what happens in India and Sri Lanka, Santner knows the kind of leader he wants to be, taking this team into the future.
“It’s obviously an honour to play, let alone captain your country,” he said. “It’s something I didn’t seek out, it just kind of found me.
“But playing under a lot of great captains since I started, whether it’s here or abroad, you kind of understand how you want to go about it.
“You want to be authentic to your style. You go into different environments that work and don’t work, and pick up how to approach it.
“For me, the calmer and more relaxed we can keep the set-up definitely helps guys perform. That’s all I try to do, be well-planned, but let guys express themselves as best they can.
“It’s been an enjoyable road so far.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.