Cricket: Short form players still in mix for NZC contract

Twenty20 ability will be a factor in finalising the 20 New Zealand Cricket player contracts for the next year.

Where players in the past have been assessed on their test and ODI ability, when the names are released on June 26 the national selectors will have incorporated their Twenty20 talent into the mix.

There will still be two lists. Selectors Glenn Turner, Dion Nash and John Wright will rate their top 25 test players - with a weighting of 1.25 to demonstrate test cricket is rated the highest form of the game - and the top 25 in what will be called the "short form" of cricket. The numbers are then combined to find the top 25 overall. The bottom five miss out unless someone above them opts not to take up the national contract.

It is a makeshift method for this contract round. When NZC and the Players' Association get together to work out the collective agreement to kick in next year, they will figure out a way to incorporate Twenty20 value more precisely for when the numbers are being crunched.

"Obviously we recognise that Twenty20 is a pretty significant part of the international programme and it needs to be considered when you assess players in terms of their potential future value," Players Association boss Heath Mills said last night. "We still regard test cricket as the ultimate form of the game."

In simple terms, if a player is well regarded in Twenty20 terms, but less so in 50-over international cricket, he could still find himself in the mix for a contract.

The top-rated player, almost certainly captain Dan Vettori, will receive a basic retainer of $174,000. Payments then drop in $6000 lots with the bottom three players each receiving $72,000. Players also receive $7325 per test, $3175 for each ODI and $2075 per Twenty20 international.

Any player who drops off the list will get a parachute payment - one month on the bottom tier retainer split over two months to bridge the gap until the major association contracts kick in, in October. The top-ranked major association players get $36,500.