1 Jul 2011

4 players get new cricket contracts

12:01 pm on 1 July 2011

The Canterbury wicketkeeper Reece Young, Canterbury batsman Rob Nicol, Northern Districts fast bowler Trent Boult and Wellington spinner Luke Woodcock are the newcomers to New Zealand Cricket's list of contracted players for the upcoming season.

James Franklin, Brent Arnel, Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins, Tim McIntosh, Jeetan Patel and Daryl Tuffey are those from last season who have missed out on contracts this time, while Scott Styris has retired from international play.

Daniel Flynn and Neil Broom are both back after missing contracts last season.

Contracts are offered to the 20 players considered to have the greatest value to the BLACKCAPS over the coming 12 months based on previous form and their likelihood to be selected.

A set criteria is used to rank players across all three forms of the game with Test cricket receiving twice the weighting of ODIs and Twenty20 internationals. The players with the highest aggregate score are then offered NZC contracts.

Acting National Selection Manager Mark Greatbatch said the number of new players forcing their way into the top 20 was a feature of the list.

The contracted players are:

Hamish Bennett - Canterbury Wizards

Trent Boult - Northern Knights

Neil Broom - Otago Volts

Daniel Flynn - Northern Knights

Martin Guptill - Auckland Aces

Chris Martin - Auckland Aces

Brendon McCullum - Otago Volts

Nathan McCullum - Otago Volts

Andy McKay - Wellington Firebirds

Kyle Mills - Auckland Aces

Rob Nicol - Canterbury Wizards

Jacob Oram - Central Stags

Jesse Ryder - Wellington Firebirds

Tim Southee - Northern Knights

Ross Taylor - Central Stags

Daniel Vettori - Northern Knights

BJ Watling - Northern Knights

Kane Williamson - Northern Knights

Luke Woodcock - Wellington Firebirds

Reece Young - Canterbury Wizards