Black Caps get IPL all clear before World Cup
Leading Black Caps like Kane Williamson and Trent Boult are free to play the entire Indian Premier League, even if it means they assemble barely a fortnight before their Cricket World Cup opener on June 1.
New Zealand Cricket general manager of high performance Bryan Stronach confirmed all Black Caps who secure IPL deals will be issued No Objection Certificates for the entire tournament, which is tentatively scheduled to end in mid-May.
That contrasts with Cricket Australia which put its foot down and ordered stars like Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins miss one-third of the IPL including the finals to join the national side for their cup buildup throughout May. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Smith and Warner could sacrifice close to $1 million from their mammoth IPL deals, with players paid pro-rata.
It also means Australia’s big guns could even play three scheduled 50-over warmup games against a second-string Black Caps side in Brisbane in early May.
When the IPL transfer window closed on Thursday, Williamson, Boult, Tim Southee, Colin de Grandhomme, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne were all retained by their franchises for the tournament starting in late March.
All eight could conceivably be in the World Cup squad, and others like Corey Anderson, who was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore, could be snapped up at next month’s player auction.
Black Caps coach Gary Stead said before his team departed for the United Arab Emirates it was hardly ideal, but he accepted the situation.
‘‘It would be lovely to be in a position to say ‘stay at home’. But we’re not and we can’t compete with the IPL dollars,
that’s just the reality.
‘‘What we can do is put in place for the guys in the IPL a programme that hopefully allows them to be 100 per cent ready and just keep talking to our players around where they’re at and what they can still do in that IPL period to give them a best chance of being ready.’’
While the top Australian players earn well over $1 million, the top-two Black Caps earners Williamson and Boult just nudge over $400,000 if they play the bulk of New Zealand’s international fixtures.
The IPL more than doubles their earnings. Williamson was secured by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $612,000 at the last player auction and Boult fetched $490,000 from Delhi Daredevils.
The IPL schedule is yet to be confirmed but the fact it will be shifted back to allow a gap before the World Cup meant NZC was happy to let its players go for the duration.
‘‘It was a big discussion point before we found out the IPL was finishing earlier. With that in mind we’re pretty happy with our preparation for the team leading into the World Cup,’’ Stronach said. ‘‘It would have been really hard if the players had to go straight from the finals into the World Cup, but with that gap it creates a buffer.’’
New Zealand’s home season ends on March 20 after the third test against Bangladesh in Christchurch. Black Caps contracted players are permitted annual leave to play in the IPL, they will then assemble in the UK after the tournament for World Cup warmup matches and their opener against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on June 1.
Black Caps who don’t make the IPL will have camps in Mt Maunganui and Lincoln, near Christchurch, then head to Australia in early May.
The unofficial one-day matches against an Australian XI are pencilled in for Brisbane’s Allan Border Field on May 5, 7 and 9.