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Tom Latham, who may be the next captain of New Zealand’s ODI side, has stated that the team will need to adjust to players choosing to sign franchise deals rather than central contracts by becoming more adaptable.
Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, and former captain Kane Williamson declined to be considered for the most recent round of contracts; however, Williamson, who will participate in the SA20 in January, was granted a casual deal in recognition of his ongoing status as one of New Zealand’s most valuable players.
Williamson insisted at the time of announcing his new arrangement that he remained fully committed to international cricket, and he will likely only miss a few limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka. However, it marked another significant shift in the game, following Trent Boult’s decision to turn down a contract two years ago in order to give him more opportunities in T20 league cricket.
“Think at the moment where cricket’s going in New Zealand is slightly different,” Latham said. “It’s certainly not a black and white situation, and certainly changing with all these leagues popping up. Guess everyone is in a slightly different boat in what their future may look like depending on their age or stage they are in life.
“We’ve got a lot of cricket in the summer [and] got an ICC pinnacle event [the Champions Trophy] which is exciting to look forward to. So whether it be with different personnel, whether it be with the guys we are used to having, whenever we can have them I’m sure that will be great, but think we’ve certainly got to be pretty fluid with what things look like in the future.”
Because of rotation or scheduling conflicts, New Zealand has grown accustomed to playing white-ball series without important players. The latter scenario is expected to recur when they play Pakistan in late March of the next season. The New Zealand contract system, according to Latham, has been effective from its beginning. However, he urged that those in charge should consider whether it still makes sense in the current context.
“Don’t know what the right system is, there is a lot of flexibility within our contracts at the moment, but think with the changing landscape of cricket I’m sure it will be something that New Zealand Cricket and the players’ association look at and try and come up with something,” he said.
“We’ve seen over many years now, at times we haven’t had those senior guys. That gives me an opportunity as a senior player to step up and lead as well. But also other guys who haven’t necessarily had opportunities in the past to step up in different leadership roles. It’s never great when you miss guys of Kane’s calibre, but it gives opportunities to other guys to put their best foot forward.”