Whanganui cricketer Ben Smith has retained his professional status with Central Districts after being named among the 13 players offered first-round domestic contracts for the 2017-18 season with the Stags.
Opening batsman Smith will be part of a settled group, which includes fellow former Wanganui representative Tom Bruce, with theTaranaki batsman having made his debut for the Black Caps last year at Twenty20 level.
Of last year's group, only spinner Marty Kain (retired) and Andrew Mathieson (injury) are no longer in the mix.
Central Districts have two more contracts left to offer, which must be settled in the second round.
Smith had a breakout 2015-16 with the bat for the Stags, scoring 917 runs in first class games for the season, the third highest of all time for the province.
His form was a little more patchy last year, but made some handy scores in the latter part of the summer.
Another former Wanganui club cricketer in Christi Viljoen, who played for United in the latter half of the 2014-15 summer, has retained his contract with the Otago Volts.
Viljoen also had success returning to playing for the Namibia team while he was already in the United Kingdom last month.
