As is the case with any sport’s golden generation, how New Zealand Cricket navigates the end of this current cycle of the men’s game is going to be key in ensuring the Black Caps can continue to succeed.
Since the mid-2010s, Kiwi cricket fans have been treated to the most successful era the game in Aotearoa has seen.
The Black Caps have reached world event finals in all three forms of the game, and won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
But now, midway through 2026, the golden generation of the Black Caps appears to be in its final days. While New Zealand’s white ball side has been refreshed by new players coming in, the test side’s prestige sees places earned, rather than experiment with rotation.
Of the playing XI that won the World Test Championship, six have retired, while another is no longer a regular fixture.
In terms of bowlers, there is no cause for immediate concern. While Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner have hung up their boots, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke, Jacob Duffy and others have taken up the mantle in style.
The batting ranks, though, paint a different picture. Of the Black Caps’ first-choice test XI, only one of the top six – Rachin Ravindra – is under 30 years of age.
Of the other five, captain Tom Latham has just turned 34, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell will both be 35 by year’s end, while Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell will turn 36.
That will almost certainly see a period where all five retire within one cycle, akin to the team of 2008 that left Ross Taylor as the senior batter in his early 20s.
Immediate change isn’t necessarily needed either. Conway was arguably under pressure to keep his spot in the test side over the last summer, and responded with a career-best 227 against the West Indies.
However, Black Caps selection manager Gavin Larsen outlines that these matters are on his agenda, as the new contracting window approaches.
“There’s a lot of succession planning that takes place,” he told the Herald. “This is the period of the year where we give a lot of due attention to that.
“We’re going through our central contract ranking process at the moment. I’ll be up-front and honest, it’s been a difficult process.
“When it comes to ranking players across tests, ODIs and T20s, it can be a difficult process – but that’s healthy. It’s a real signal that our system is working nicely.
“We’ve got a number of younger, and not so young, players that are pushing through and pressing hard towards the incumbent players.”
Where, then, do the Black Caps go next? At lower levels, there are plenty of players already putting their hands up.
At the top of the order, Canterbury’s Rhys Mariu, 24, and Central Districts’ Curtis Heaphy, 22, have dominated at domestic level, and both impressed for New Zealand A – even if they’re yet to play a test match.
Wellington’s Tim Robinson, 24, has already shown he can thrive at international level, courtesy of an unbeaten 106 in a T20 International against Australia last year. While his first-class batting record is modest, averaging just under 33 from 27 matches, a career-best 130 against Sri Lanka A in spinning conditions last month shows a player worth investing in.
Canterbury’s Matt Boyle, 23, also made a century in Sri Lanka, and has the potential to become a batting allrounder when taking his more than handy leg-spin into account. Muhammad Abbas starred with the fastest half-century by a Kiwi on his ODI debut last year, even if his progress has been halted by injury.
With the gloves, Mitch Hay looms as the next cab off the rank after Blundell after his successful test debut last year, but will face stiff competition from Otago’s Max Chu, who played for New Zealand A as a specialist batter.
Considering test places are hard to come by, and with the current side effectively locked in for the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, don’t expect major changes for the time being.
However, given New Zealand A has become an instrumental part of the Black Caps’ development pathway, Larsen is more than confident with what he’s seen.
“I was in Sri Lanka, I watched a couple of weeks of that A tour before heading up to Bangladesh to pick up the white ball series with the Black Caps,” he added.
“I was really impressed with what I saw on both tours. We even saw guys that have fashioned some good domestic performances, and because of the depth – we were pretty low in terms of our depth chart – players stepped up really well.
“It’s a nice signal all-round of our depth.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.