New Zealand pacer claims more players will give up national contracts for T20 Leagues

The landscape of cricket is definitely changing in the last few months or so. A few months back, Cricket South Africa (CSA) decided to postpone an ODI series in Australia to make their top players available for SA20. On the other hand, some of the New Zealand players such as Trent Boult, Jimmy Neesham, and Martin Guptill have opted out of their national contracts.

Meanwhile, Kiwi pacer, Tim Southee indirectly claims that more players from his nation would follow the suit. He feels that the landscape of the game has changed quicker than he thought. Southee added that it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the game.

“It has been an interesting last few months where the landscape of cricket has changed, quicker than most thought,” Southee said ahead of Wednesday’s third ODI against India.

“I am contracted to New Zealand Cricket at the moment and I’ve been back to the ITL (Indian T20 League) this year and we’ll see what happens over the coming years. But it’s definitely changing the landscape of cricket to what it was two-three years ago.”

I haven’t looked too far ahead: Tim Southee

Southee will turn up for the Kolkata franchise in the Indian T20 League 2023. Meanwhile, he refused to look too far ahead in life. However, he indirectly maintained that the players might opt out of national contracts in the future.

“I haven’t looked too far ahead, to be honest. There’s enough cricket to come in the coming months to worry about before having to look too far ahead. But it’s something all players are trying to stay with and think about in the moving landscape of the game,” he said.