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