Butler and Sinclair Miss Out

Ian Butler and Matthew Sinclair are the two big casualties from New Zealand’s 20 man list of contracted players for the 2005-06 season.

Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand general manager, said that even though Ian Butler and Matthew Sinclair missed out on a contract, it doesn’t rule them out of international cricket with Crocker giving the example of 33 players being used the past year.

Shane Bond managed to hold his place despite not playing international cricket in over two years but he’s thankfully well on the road to recovery and is set to play for the New Zealand Academy in Brisbane next month.

35 year old Chris Harris also retained his contact which he hopes will carry him onto the 2007 World Cup.

The 20 contracted players are ranked and paid accordingly with the top ranked player, believed to be Stephen Fleming or Daniel Vettori picking up NZ$125,000. There is a NZ$5,000 drop per rank down to positions 17-20 where these players earn NZ$45,000.

On top of their set pay each player, whether a contracted player or not picks up $6,000 per test and $2,500 per ODI while Stephen Fleming also commands a captain’s fee of $30,000-$50,000.

Contracted Players Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Craig Cumming, Stephen Fleming, James Franklin, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman.