New Zealand's Santner rejects BBL offer to stay available for India, Australia series

Mitchell Santner has turned down a lucrative Big Bash League (BBL) offer to remain available for New Zealand’s upcoming international assignments against India and Australia. Santner was approached by Adelaide Strikers with an offer to join the franchise, but the 34-year-old ultimately decided that New Zealand’s international commitments were more important at this stage of his career.

The left-arm spinner is particularly keen to be involved in the India tour of New Zealand later this year, followed by New Zealand’s four-Test trip to Australia. “When you look ahead to the summer we’ve got, India here for white ball and Tests and Australia away – there’s not many bigger than that – it’s quite an exciting time. I’d like to still be part of that,” Santner told the *New Zealand Herald*.

Santner admitted that the BBL proposal was financially attractive and was serious enough to consider before making his decision. “The offer was good, I’m not going to lie. They knew it would have to be a good offer for me to entertain it with contracting and what would come up,” he said.

While Santner acknowledged that he may not feature in every Test, he believes he can still make an important contribution to the national side. “I did entertain the thought of it, but coming back to what we’ve got coming up, even if I’m not going to play every game of Test cricket, I still feel like there’s a role for me,” he added.

New Zealand are set to host India in a full series from October 22 to December 1, with the itinerary including two Tests. The Black Caps will then head to Australia for a four-match Test series.

Santner’s decision was also influenced by his desire to continue as New Zealand’s white-ball captain. He made it clear that giving up the leadership role was not something he wanted to do in exchange for a franchise opportunity.

“I don’t want to give up captaincy. If that was part of the deal, it was a no-brainer for me. There were chats that it could have worked. But for me, sitting without a central contract and trying to captain, I don’t know if that would sit right at this stage,” Santner said.

New Zealand’s central contracts come with a requirement for players to be available for Super Smash in January. The domestic competition currently clashes with both the BBL and South Africa’s SA20, making it difficult for centrally contracted players to commit to overseas leagues.

A number of New Zealand players have therefore opted for casual contracts instead. That arrangement provides them with greater freedom to play in overseas franchise competitions while still remaining available for international duties.

Santner said he had no issue with teammates choosing that route, particularly when the financial rewards on offer in franchise cricket can be considerably greater than those available through international cricket.

“There’s no judgment with guys taking casual deals. We aren’t going to keep up with the money for some of these other opportunities going around,” he said.

For Santner, however, the prospect of being part of an important period for New Zealand cricket outweighed the financial appeal of the BBL.

“But for me, I still want to be part of New Zealand cricket and what we’ve got coming up,” he said.

– Ends