Astle finally gets his turn
Twelve years since his first-class cricket debut, Todd Astle is finally a full-time Black Caps contracted player.
The Canterbury spin bowling allrounder was the only newcomer to the 20 offered a New Zealand Cricket contract, while Otago pair Jimmy Neesham and Neil Broom dropped off after fading from the national selection radar last summer.
The new contract list featured no surprises, and the fewest changes in recent memory. NZC confirmed last week the 2018-19 contracts – which start on August 1 – would decrease from 21 to 20 as negotiations continue towards a new Master Agreement with the NZ Cricket Players’ Association.
Players are ranked by coach Mike Hesson and chief selector Gavin Larsen across all three formats, with tests receiving twice the weighting of one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals. Last season’s performances, and a player’s likely contribution over the next year, are both factored in.
That made Astle, 31, difficult to overlook. For several years one of domestic cricket’s leading spinners, and a consistent batsman, Astle stepped up when summoned in ODIs and tests. He played a key role in New Zealand’s day-night test win
New Zealand Cricket’s 20 fulltime contracted players for 2018-19:
Corey Anderson, Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, George Worker. over England, his third many test appearances.
The rankings are not made public but Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Ross Taylor look a likely top-three and Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson and George Worker potentially the bottom-three. Retainers were kept secret too, having ranged from about $210,000 for No 1 down to about $86,000 for No 18-21 last season.
Few players could count themselves unlucky as they go back into the domestic contract system which pays from September 1 to April 15. The six major associations select their top-16 – an increase of one contract each – next month.
The writing was on the wall for Neesham and Broom whose international careers both look in extreme doubt.
Allrounder Neesham last played an international at the Champions Trophy last June and was dropped by Otago at one stage last summer, while batsman Broom scored six and two in ODIs against West Indies in December and was barely sighted since.
‘‘Jimmy and Neil didn’t show the consistency required over the past year and we’d like to see them go back and demand our attention again through domestic performance,’’ Larsen said.
Allrounder Corey Anderson retained his contract despite not playing for the Black Caps since the Champions Trophy as he underwent back surgery. Clearly he and Colin de Grandhomme feature highly in Hesson’s plans for the World Cup. victory in as