As New Zealand Cricket continues to work towards a local franchise Twenty20 league, new chief executive Geoff Allott is firmly behind the proposed NZ20.
While New Zealand is the only major cricketing nation without a franchise-style model, the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) board has committed to the NZ20 concept, which will see private money come into the game to replace the existing Super Smash, from as early as next year.
That model was backed over pushing for an entry into Australia’s Big Bash League, as the NZC board backed a local solution, rather than seek transtasman unification.
However, NZ20 has already proven disruptive within the game.
Allott’s predecessor Scott Weenink stepped down at the end of last year, citing a different view on the future priorities of the game. In the hours after the NZ20 concept was provisionally accepted, board member Dion Nash also stood down from his role.
But having watched from the outside, Allott sees the benefits NZ20 will bring to the domestic game in New Zealand, at a time when the national body is struggling to retain its top talent to the lure of overseas leagues.
“The concept excites me,” he told the Herald. “The reason for that is that it would provide a high-performance aspect, a fan-centric aspect and financial certainty, particularly in our community game.
“As a sport, we need to be listening to our fans and what the younger generation are telling us.
“We need to make sure we’ve got high-performance systems and structures in place to attract our best New Zealand players, domestically, so our kids – like we did – can watch these games and their heroes.
“I want to see Black Caps and White Ferns wanting to be involved. It was really positive to see when we had players commenting so positively on the concept.
“It’s a matter of understanding that everything stacks up. I know there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to investigate those opportunities further.”
While provisionally accepted by NZC, the league still has work to do to get off the ground in time for its intended 2027 launches – January for men and December for women – and receive a licence to operate by the national body.
The Herald understands clearing a dedicated four-week window in January, with Sri Lanka scheduled to tour New Zealand, and the ownership stake NZC takes in NZ20 are the biggest obstacles in place.
NZ20 establishment committee chair Don Mackinnon told the Herald that time constraints are tight, but he believes there is still long enough to get everything done.
While Allott doesn’t start as chief executive until July, and isn’t across every aspect of the proposal, he echoes those sentiments.
“I have enormous confidence in NZ Cricket’s representatives around the table, and in NZ20’s representatives around the table.
“There’s some fantastic cricket brains. But at the end of the day, things do take time. We have to make sure it’ll lead to the opportunities we know it can.
“They’ll do the work, there’s some good, professional people around that, and I’m confident that they’ll make the right decision.”
As and when NZ20 does launch, Allott faces another stern task in navigating cricket’s club versus country split.
With the franchise world increasing in popularity for men and women, international cricket has come under immense scrutiny, as meaningless bilateral series fight for relevance.
While internationals are strong in World Cups, so much so that a world event now takes place every year until 2031 at the earliest, cricket outside of tournaments is seemingly dependent on the triumvirate of India, England and Australia.
At the time of Allott’s appointment, a weakened Black Caps side is on a white-ball tour of Bangladesh – after finishing the home summer with equally depleted stocks against South Africa – while the country’s best players are playing franchise leagues in India and Pakistan.
Despite the proliferation of T20 leagues and the financial rewards they bring, Allott holds no fears for the future of the international game.
While New Zealand might not boast the financial clout of India, Australia or England, the international game is still in relatively good shape in Aotearoa, thanks to the performances of the Black Caps and White Ferns.
That, though, is a rarity in the modern game. Even as World Test Championship winners, South Africa haven’t played a home test since January 2025 – and won’t again until October this year.
The West Indies’ struggles to financially retain their best players continues, while Sri Lanka are plagued by governance issues at boardroom level.
Having represented New Zealand 41 times, playing 10 tests and 31 One-Day Internationals, Allott needs no reminder of the importance of international cricket.
But, as cricket navigates a new world order, the new boss emphasises the importance of balance between the franchise game and internationals.
“There’s definitely a role to play with international cricket,” he added. “We’ve seen the popularity with recent World Cups across the world and into really important markets.
“The really exciting piece around franchise cricket for men and women is absolutely an exciting place for our sport to develop. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. We’ve got forms of the game that fortunately suit different people and desires.
“What we have to do is take a lot of consideration into thought around player welfare, what the fans want to watch and how they want to watch it.
“It is a concern when you’ve got countries that have great traditions that are struggling. Cricket has to look at that at a broader level, understand what those challenges are, and understand what might be appropriate for that country or region, and come up with a plan for it.
“It’s not something to panic over, it’s an evolvement of the professionalism of our game. We just need to be realistic and have good open dialogue around the table where we listen to concerns and come up with the right solutions for the future.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.