Phillips, Mitchell get security of NZ contracts
One blasted the Black Caps’ fastest Twenty20 international century off 46 balls; the other stamped his mark with maiden test and one-day international hundreds.
Both Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell put compelling cases, and were rewarded with first-time contracts on New Zealand Cricket’s top-20 today.
At the other end of the scale there was more frustration for test spinner Ajaz Patel, who made the 20-strong England tour squad but dropped off the contract list after just one year. The leftarmer played the last of his eight tests against India in February 2020, and after being sidelined by injury played just two first-class matches last season.
Wicketkeeper BJ Watling’s imminent retirement after next month’s World Test Championship final also opened up a contract spot, meaning just two changes from the 2020-21 list. The contract period starts on August 1 each year.
Others tomiss the cut included test squad callups Rachin Ravindra, Doug Bracewell and Jacob Duffy, along with T20 regular Timseifert. Tom Blundell, Watling’s likely test successor, and Devon Conway are the only wicketkeepers on the list.
In a process overseen by NZC general manager high performance, Bryan Stronach, selectors Gary Stead and Gavin Larsen rank the players in all three formats, with tests receiving double the weighting of ODIS and T20s.
Performances over the past 12 months and future playing value are considered before an overall top-20 is found. Rankings are not made public, and players receive annual retainers depending on their ranking.
Those outside the top-20 will be offered contracts with their major associations.
Phillips was a revelation in the No 5 spot in the T20 side after Ross Taylor’s axing, ahead of back-to-back T20 World Cups in the next 18 months.
The busy, powerful right-hander played 12 innings, plundering 366 runs at 40.66 and a strike rate of 185 amid series victories over West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh.
His highlight was the 46-ball century againstwest Indies at Bay Oval in November, beating his Auckland team-mate Colin Munro’s Black Caps record by one delivery.
Mitchell benefited from an injury-plagued season for fellow seam bowling allrounder Colin de Grandhomme with breakthrough performances in the test and ODI side. Playing just his fourth test, against Pakistan at Christchurch, Mitchell hit 102 not out off 112 balls as New Zealand clinched a 4-0 home test series sweep.
Then in his third ODI against Bangladesh at the Basin Reserve, Mitchell clouted 100 not out off 92 balls in New Zealand’s 3-0 series clean sweep which saw them rise to No 1 in the latest world rankings.
Said Larsen in a statement: ‘‘There’s no question Daryl and Glenn took their games to another level over the summer and have added to the growing depth of talent we now enjoy.
‘‘The Black Caps achieved unprecedented success, going through the season unbeaten for the first time ever.
‘‘After such a successful summer in which we used a variety of players across the three formats, there was always going to be a squeeze on for positions and, unfortunately, Ajaz has been a victim of that success.’’