New Zealand New Central Contract 2024-25: The New Zealand Cricket Board (NZC) has announced its central contract list for the 2024-25 season, which includes 20 players. The special thing about this list is that all-rounders Nathan Smith and Josh Clarkson have been included for the first time. Both of them will replace Devon Conway and Finn Allen. Apart from this, Kane Williamson and Trent Boult have been excluded from this contract.
Why did Smith and Clarkson get a chance?
With the inclusion of Nathan Smith and Josh Clarkson, the total number of players in New Zealand’s central contract list has increased to 20 this time. The special thing in this is that Devon Conway and Finn Allen refused to take the contract last month, after which the place of these two became vacant. The performance of these two new players has given them a place in this special list.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead said, “Both Smith and Clarkson have truly earned their first central contracts and we expect both players to make a big impact at international level in the coming months.”
Contract News | Promising allrounders Nathan Smith (Wellington Firebirds) and Josh Clarkson (Central Stags) have been awarded BLACKCAPS contracts for the first time 🏏 #CricketNationhttps://t.co/8nLvZw4aKF
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 2, 2024
Smith and Clarkson won the hearts of the board with their performance
Nathan Smith and Josh Clarkson have got this opportunity on the basis of their excellent performance in domestic cricket. Smith performed brilliantly for Wellington in the recently played Plunket Shield season. At the same time, Josh Clarkson has played nine international white-ball matches for New Zealand in the last one year, in which he participated in three ODIs and six T20 matches. His international debut was against Bangladesh in Dunedin late last year, where he proved his talent.
Let us tell you that due to playing franchise cricket, star openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway had already refused to take the central contract. At the same time, Trent Boult has already made it clear that he does not want to join the central contract. Apart from this, Kane Williamson also kept himself away from it, because he is not able to play for the country continuously.
New Zealand Central Contract 2024-25 List
Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
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