Four new players on Black Caps contracts list

Henry Nicholls in action against Australia. Photo / Nick Reed

The return of Ish Sodhi and Colin Munro, and the maiden appearance of Henry Nicholls and George Worker are the features of an expanded, 21-strong Black Caps contract list for 2016-17.

Sodhi, Munro, Nicholls and Worker replace Brendon and Nathan McCullum, who have both retired from all international cricket, and Grant Elliott - now only available for T20Is.

The contracts run from August 1 2016 through to July 31 2017, increasing from 20 to 21 players as set out in the latest variation to the Master Agreement between NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association.

Sodhi and Munro missed out last year having been last contracted in the 2014-15 season.
Nicholls and Worker both made their international debuts in the past 12 months; Nicholls receiving an elevated contract during the summer.

Black Caps selector Gavin Larsen said the limited number of changes was representative of the consistent approach to selection.

"We've built a strong group of core players over the past couple of years and that's been a key factor to the consistency of the team's performance," said Larsen.

"When we've brought new players into the group, we've been really happy with how they've adapted and performed on the international stage. Henry and George have made bright starts to their Black Caps careers and we look forward to watching their ongoing development.

"After missing out last year, Ish and Colin have both worked extremely hard on their game, as we saw with their performances for us in the shorter formats this summer. They thoroughly deserve their contracts.

"It's also exciting to see Ish make his way back into the Test squad for the upcoming series in Africa."

A set criteria is used to rank players across all three forms of the game, with Tests receiving twice the weighting of One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.

The 21 players offered Black Caps contracts for the 2016-2017 year are:

Corey Anderson - Northern Districts
Trent Boult - Northern Districts
Doug Bracewell - Central Districts
Mark Craig - Otago
Martin Guptill - Auckland
Matt Henry - Canterbury
Tom Latham - Canterbury
Mitchell McClenaghan - Auckland
Adam Milne - Central Districts
Colin Munro - Auckland
James Neesham - Otago
Henry Nicholls - Canterbury
Luke Ronchi - Wellington
Mitchell Santner - Northern Districts
Ish Sodhi - Northern Districts
Tim Southee - Northern Districts
Ross Taylor - Central Districts
Neil Wagner - Otago
BJ Watling - Northern Districts
Kane Williamson - Northern Districts
George Worker - Central Districts