Kane Williamson celebrates his second-innings century against South Africa. Photo / Photosport
Kane Williamson celebrates his second-innings century against South Africa. Photo / Photosport
As more and more Black Caps opt out of central contracts to pursue opportunities elsewhere, fans would be forgiven for feeling apprehensive about our premier summer sport.
Cricket as we have always known it is going through a major shift, and players are voting with their feet.
So, asthese sorts of deals - or lack thereof - become more and more common, it’s important to understand exactly what it means when central contracts are awarded, and what happens when players are able to turn them down.
What is a central contract?
At its simplest, a central contract effectively means representing New Zealand is a player’s job.
Before each season, NZ Cricket awards its top 20 players a central contract, in descending order.
By signing a contract, a player guarantees their commitment to NZ Cricket for that period, as well as to their major association at domestic level.
How much is a central contract worth?
Every contract is different, depending on a player’s perceived worth.
The player ranked at number one by NZ Cricket will likely be on a six-figure pay packet as their central retainer, before any kind of match fees or endorsements.
The Black Caps celebrate the wicket of West Indies captain Rovman Powell. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile, the player ranked 20th would command a lower salary, and likely be awarded to someone who might not be a Black Caps regular.
How are they awarded?
Players are ranked by a NZ Cricket system that determines their value to the national body over the designated period.
Financially, the contracts are weighted by a player’s importance to the side across three formats, with tests understood to hold the most weight.
For example, players like Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips who are regulars in both red and white ball cricket will be ranked higher than the likes of Tom Blundell, who only plays tests, or Ish Sodhi, who mostly plays the shorter formats.
Why would a player opt out?
The balance of cricket as a sport is now shifting at a rapid rate.
While the game many of us grew up playing and watching was centred around internationals being the highest level, franchise Twenty20s have become the pinnacle in terms of making a living.
Countries like the West Indies - who for many years were the dominant force in test cricket - have been hit hard, as their players opt to become short-form specialists first and foremost.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo may have played 40 tests and 164 ODIs for his country, but those numbers are dwarfed by his 578 T20 matches as a professional.
New Zealand has now reached that point as well, where it makes more sense for a player to look at T20s, rather than taking part in all three formats for their country.
Who has opted out?
While this issue has taken the spotlight this year in particular, Mitchell McClenaghan was the first to make the move back in 2017.
Since then, Trent Boult and Martin Guptill were released from their contracts in 2022, while Jimmy Neesham was initially overlooked for a contract altogether, before deciding not to sign when NZ Cricket later put one on the table.
Rajasthan Royals' Yuzvendra Chahal, left, celebrates with teammate Trent Boult. Photo / AP
Following this year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, Kane Williamson opted out of his contract, before Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne did the same.
Then, after NZ Cricket made its initial 20 offers to players, the duo of Devon Conway and Finn Allen did the same.
In every case, those players did so with other offers on the table, in order to take up short-term deals playing T20.
Can players still play for the Black Caps without a contract?
Absolutely.
Even though Boult hasn’t had a central contract since 2022, he’s still played two Twenty20 World Cups (2022 and 2024) as well as the 2023 World Cup.
Boult did so on the back of signing a casual playing agreement with NZ Cricket. In that case, a player commits to being available for internationals, provided it doesn’t overlap with franchise deals.
Both Williamson and Conway have also signed similar deals for the upcoming period, and have been picked for New Zealand’s tour of Asia, where tests against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India await over the coming months.
However, in both of those cases, neither Williamson nor Conway will be available for the end of the Kiwi summer, after both committing to play in South Africa’s SA20 competition instead.
Both of those contracts are understood to be worth more money than what either player would be paid for an entire year as a centrally contracted Black Cap, though. Allen is in a similar boat, after signing for the Perth Scorchers on a two-year deal after opting out of his contract.
New Zealand's captain Kane Williamson bats against Afghanistan. Photo / AP
For its part, though, NZ Cricket has always maintained selection priority will be given to players who are centrally contracted, especially in test cricket.
Should fans be worried?
Yes and no.
Ultimately, players have the right to earn as much as they can for as long as they can. Athletes’ careers are short, and it’s an unfair double standard to ask them to turn down sums of money that will set them and their families up for life.
At the same time, it is scary to consider the future of cricket overall.
Since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008, this shift was always on the cards, given the huge sums of private money put into franchise cricket.
And in the 16 years since, India’s influence has expanded into the USA, South Africa, the UAE and the Caribbean - with almost certainly more to come.
While Black Caps have traditionally waited for the end of their careers to make the move, Allen has done so at age 25 as a clear indicator of where he sees his future.
Only time will tell whether or not this is good for cricket as a whole.
NZ Cricket central contracts list 2024/25 (alphabetical order):
Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
