KEY POINTS:
Black Caps Hamish Marshall and Brendon McCullum may return to English county cricket after the World Cup, though their arrival will depend on when they are released by New Zealand Cricket (NZC).
As part of their collective contract, NZC reserves the right to keep all their players in
New Zealand for three weeks after the World Cup. This is for the end-of-season reviews which go some way to determining the 20 NZC contracts for the next 12 months and also to take advantage of commercial opportunities should New Zealand upset the odds and succeed in the Caribbean.
Each player is treated on a case-by-case basis and it is highly unlikely those with county contracts would be held back for the full three weeks.
Marshall has already signed a new contract with Gloucestershire. Last season, his first in England, the Northern Districts man finished top of the county batting averages in four-day cricket with 1218 second division championship runs at 60.9, including five centuries and seven 50s. He was third on the one-day NatWest Pro40 averages with 266 runs at 44.33.
The 27-year-old is still unsure exactly when he will be back in England but confirmed he has put pen to paper on a new contract.
"I am definitely going back to Gloucestershire for the whole season after the World Cup. I thoroughly enjoyed playing for Gloucestershire last year and always intended to return this season.
"It's in my contract [the possible three-week stand-down] so we will just have to see what happens."
The World Cup runs from March 13 to April 28, meaning Marshall may not be available until late May.
Meanwhile, McCullum is waiting to tie up the loose ends of a new contract with Welsh county Glamorgan. The 25-year-old Canterbury gloveman impressed as a temporary replacement for Australian batsman Mark Cosgrove last year.
McCullum cracked 306 championship runs at 61.2 and plundered 188 runs in eight Twenty20 matches at 26.85.
Looking ahead to the 2007 county season, McCullum believes a deal to bring him back to Sophia Gardens is all but finalised.
"There was never any doubt that I wanted to go back to Glamorgan," he said. "It's a great club, I enjoyed my time there last season and I can't wait to go back. My management is waiting to hear confirmation from Glamorgan that the paperwork has gone through but as far as I am concerned, there are no issues.
"I don't want to say any more at this stage because I have not actually signed a new contract yet and I don't want to pre-empt anything that may happen but I am confident of getting confirmation soon."
McCullum hinted that he is interested in prolonging his stay for the whole season but if New Zealand progresses to the latter stages of cricket's showpiece tournament, he is unlikely to be available until the second half of the season.