Glenn Phillips
Glenn Phillips[photo: Twitter]

All-rounder Daryl Mitchell and young batsman Glenn Phillips have been offered their maiden national contracts by New Zealand Cricket in the recently announced 20-man list following their brilliant performances in the completed season.

Daryl Mitchell was part of the New Zealand team across formats as a replacement for the injured Colin de Grandhomme – and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The right-hander notched up his maiden Test and ODI centuries, and on the back of a successful summer, he is selected to fly to England for the 2-Test series which will be followed by the World Test Championship against India.

Glenn Phillips flourished in the T20Is – he smashed 366 runs at a 40.6 average, including a scintillating 46-ball ton – the fastest T20I century by a Kiwi – against the West Indies at Bay Oval in November last year.

Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell
Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell (Image Credit: ICC Twitter)

“I’d like to congratulate all the players offered agreements for the coming season and in particular newcomers Daryl and Glenn. Receiving your first national contract is a great moment in any player’s career and both thoroughly deserve their elevation,” Selector Gavin Larsen said in a statement released by NZC.

“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 BLACKCAPS achieved unprecedented success, going through the season unbeaten for the first time ever and it was encouraging to see guys like Kyle Jamieson and Devon Conway performing so well after receiving their first contracts last year,” he added.

Ajaz Patel misses out from the contracted players’ list

Test specialist left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel is not offered a contract for the coming season after receiving it for the first time last year. However, he will travel to the UK for the 3 Tests next month. Larsen said Patel being injured for the most part of last season kept him out of the contracted players’ list.

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Ajaz Patel
Ajaz Patel. Photo: Getty

“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.

“He missed the start of the Test season with his calf injury and was unable to make it back into the side during a summer in which seam and swing dominated. However, we are well aware of Ajaz’s value as a frontline spinner, particularly in overseas conditions and he’s therefore still very much in our thinking going forward,” Larsen stated.

An NZC contract review group, managed by GM High-Performance Bryan Stronach, considered a variety of factors including performances over the past 12 months and future prospects.

New Zealand contracted players: Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

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