Kane Williamson playing for the Guijarat Titans in this year's IPL. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Lucrative global franchise competitions are taking an increasing toll on playing stocks, with players opting out of contracts with NZ Cricket (NZC) to make more money overseas.
Black Caps Devon Conway and Finn Allen are the latest to join a growing number of players opting out of the central contract system.
Conway will miss the Black Caps one-day and T20 games against Sri Lanka and December and January after opting to play in South Africa.
In June, former Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson turned down a central contract, preferring a casual one so he too could play in South Africa.
Fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne have also opted out of central contracts.
The Indian Premier League is by far and away the major player on the T20 scene, but there are now IPL franchise teams in US Major League Cricket (MLC), Carribean Premier League (CPL) and the UAE's International League T20 (ILT), which New Zealand players are all involved in.
On top of that there's Australia's Big Bash and franchise competitions in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Canada, among others.
As global leagues continue to grow, more opportunities will present themselves to top players looking for casual contracts so they can cash in and also play international cricket.
Global T20 league will lure more and more players off shore - Trent Boult, Mitch Santner and Devon Conway in the 2023 IPL. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
NZC chief executive Scott Weenink maintained they currently got the best of both worlds in providing the likes of Williamson and Conway with casual contracts as it kept them playing for the Black Caps, while allowing them to earn much bigger money playing in franchise leagues.
"In the current environment it's important to have flexibility in our system to navigate some of the challenges posed by franchise cricket - and this is another example of how we're working hard to retain our best players," he said "Ideally we would like to have everyone on a central contract, but we think by having the flexibility of a casual contract enables us to ultimately get our best players playing for New Zealand as often and for as long as possible."
But does the approach erode the integrity of the contract system? Weenink did not believe so, reiterating the organisation's preference remained to select players on central or casual playing contracts for the Black Caps.
"We have drawn a pretty firm line in the sand... there were a couple of others, including Finn (Allen), who hoped they would be eligible for a casual playing contract - but the fact is they weren't."
However Weenink noted things could change.
"Strategically, New Zealand Cricket has always taken a view that we leave a window open for our players to play in the IPL, and we first and foremost view our Super Smash as a development tournament to create new Black Caps and White Ferns - but the world of cricket is changing, so we need to continue looking at Super Smash and other opportunities and whether they are still fit for purpose.
"It might be that we do look to monetise Super Smash and open it up to external investors. We haven't made any decisions on that, but nothing is off the table."
Scott Weenink New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Photo: Alan Lee
Weenink said there had not been any approach from IPL franchises or private equity firms.
"No we haven't been sounded out. If we were to do it, it would be an initiative from us.... [but] I think there would be a huge amount of interest. Certainly we are looking at all options including potentially commercialising and better monetising the Super Smash."
Weenink believed it would not necessarily be just India where investment might come from.
"You could have some very local wealthy interests, private equity, but naturally there might be IPL owners that could be interested in buying into another league. So what you would do if you were going to go down that route is to find as many interested parties as possible."
Weenink said there would be two aspects to any such plan.
"It'd be to ensure its generating more revenue so that we could pay our players more, but also from the high performance perspective you want to make sure you are making the league better quality and thereby creating a better and strong playing pool for both men and women."
But has NZC missed its chance for growth with so many global leagues already up and running?
"The strategy we have followed I think is the right one. There are a number of leagues popping up, but what sort of longevity they have remains to be seen."
