Adam Milne returns to New Zealand Cricket’s contract list after five years

06/08/2023

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New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have announced the central contracts for the 2023-24 period and Adam Milne has been offered a contract for the first time in five years. Ajaz Patel is the surprise absentee from the list while Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, and Martin Guptill were also omitted.

New Zealand Cricket have announced a list of 20 names as part of the contract list for the 2023-24 period and Adam Milne has turned out to be the biggest beneficiary of it earning the contract for the first time in five years. Although he represented the Blackcaps in the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022, the pacer was out for almost a year from the national setup. However, he played 16 white-ball games last season and might be a possible inclusion for ODI World Cup in India this year. Head coach Gary Stead stated that Milne has shown good resilience over the past few years.

"Adam's worked exceptionally hard, and has shown good resilience over the past few years to be in a position to earn this contract offer. He's always been a top-class bowler, and we were impressed by his consistent contributions in the recent home summer and the tour of Pakistan,” he stated, reported New Zealand Cricket.

Ajaz Patel is a notable absentee from the list as he is omitted from the list as a result of playing only two Tests last year despite being only the third bowler in history to pick 10 wickets in Test innings. Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, and Martin Guptill are also not on the list as they requested to be released from the contracts earlier. Under the terms of the Master Agreement, all the players have a deadline of June 12 to accept or decline the offer made by New Zealand Cricket.

Players offered NZC contracts for 2023-24: Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson and Will Young