Trent Boult hopes he has not played his last Test match for New Zealand but acknowledged his central contract withdrawal will affect selection decisions.
The left-arm quick made the bold choice to step away from his central contract with the Black Caps earlier in August, allowing him more time to focus on family life and franchise cricket.
Boult and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) agreed on a mutual termination of his contract, with the 33-year-old looking to move away from the rigorous international cricket schedule.
New Zealand will miss his wicket-taking ability should they not select Boult, with only Richard Hadlee (431 wickets), Daniel Vettori (361) and Tim Southee (347) managing more than his 317 Test dismissals.
The Black Caps head for a two-Test series against Pakistan in December 2022 before two more fixtures in the longest format against England in February 2023, and Boult hopes to feature despite his decision.
"I hope not," Boult said when asked if the Test he played against England in June could be his last. "I'm fully aware that with the decision I made to give that contract back, it's going to affect that selection.
"I'm taking it almost week by week really. There's a lot of cricket to be played before then. I know the next series is in Pakistan and then at my home ground [Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui] against England in the new year, but it's too far away to tell.
"I'm going to leave that with New Zealand Cricket and respect their decision."
Boult has retained his ODI place for the upcoming three-match series against Australia, while he has made his intentions clear to feature at the T20 World Cup in October.
"I remember talking to Kane [Williamson] after 2019 at Lord's [where New Zealand lost to England in the final] and saying we want to be there in four years' time," he added.
"It's only a few months around the corner and there's a lot of hunger to try to have another crack at that trophy."
While Boult remains hopeful of keeping his place in the international setup, he reiterated the decision to reduce his workload was due to wanting more time with his family.
"Without getting too financially specific, I'd be more able to bring them on tour [when playing T20 leagues]," he continued.
"I've got three young boys that only see dad for eight weeks a year at the moment. If I don't play any international cricket, obviously I still want to, then that might be a couple of leagues a year and 10 months at home rather than the other way around.
"I'm not getting too far ahead – it's a hard one to forecast at the moment."
'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.
The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.
Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation.
"We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.
"We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.
"They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.
"Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.
"There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.
"We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."
South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup.
Bairstow and Moeen left out of England's white-ball squad
Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali have both been left out of England's white-ball series squad, with five uncapped players named.
As Jos Buttler looks to the future, Warwickshire batting all-rounders, Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley, have been given their first international call-ups for the three-match T20 series against Australia next month.
Essex batter Jordan Cox, Hampshire seamer John Turner and Leicestershire left-arm bowler Josh Hull, who was named as Mark Wood's replacement in the Test squad to play Sri Lanka, have also been picked.
The latter three will also be involved for the five one-day internationals that follow.
World Cup winners Bairstow and Moeen, who have been regular fixtures in England's white-ball squad for over a decade, could have made their final international appearances after being left out of the squad, with Chris Jordan also being overlooked.
Brydon Carse, however, has been recalled for both squads after serving a betting ban, while Saqib Mahmood returns for the T20 series after recovering from injury. Buttler will also be fit to feature after overcoming a calf injury.
Marcus Trescothick will lead England for the first time against Australia after being named Matthew Mott's interim replacement.
Mott left in July following England's semi-final exit to eventual champions India in the T20 World Cup, having also failed to help England defend their 50-over world title in 2023.
The first match of the T20 series will take place on September 11 at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
England T20 squad to play Australia:
Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner.
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, John Turner.
Jayden Seales now ranked career-best 13th on ICC Men's Test Bowling chart
West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales continued his ascension on the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings as he moved up to a career-best 13th position after finishing as the most successful bowler in the second Test against South Africa in Guyana.
Seales, who finished with nine wickets in a 40-run loss that helped South Africa win the ICC World Test Championship series 1-0, achieved the milestone move, which now makes him the top-ranked Test bowler from the West Indies.
The 22-year-old Trinidadian, who has enjoyed fairly good form since his return from injury, surpassed Barbadian seamer Kemar Roach, who slipped one place down to 18th, as his journey to fitness continues.
Spinners Jomel Warrican (52nd) and Gudakesh Motie (64th), both moved two spots up, while fast bowler Shamar Joseph also progressed 11 spots to 54th in other significant movements for the West Indies players in the bowling rankings.
South Africa’s Player of the Match Wiaan Mulder advanced 27 places to 65th position after finishing with six wickets, while off-spinner Dane Piedt is up nine places to 66th after claiming two West Indies wickets in the second innings of the match.
In the Test batting rankings, former West Indies captain Jason Holder is up seven places to 60th position following his unbeaten knock of 54 in the first innings. He is also up two places to fifth in the list of all-rounders.
South Africa opener Aiden Markram and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne have gained after notching half-centuries in the second innings. Markram inched up two places to 21st, while Verreynne has progressed from 62nd to 46th.
In the ICC World Test Championship, West Indies are last in the nine-team championship with 18.52 after nine matches, while South Africa are in fifth place with 38.89 percentage points after six matches.
India lead the table with 68.52 percentage points after nine matches, with Australia in second on 62.50 after 12 outings. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are the other teams ahead of South Africa.
Meanwhile, in the ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, Scott Edwards of the Netherlands has moved up six places to 26th position after scores of 72 and 65 against Canada and the United States, respectively, in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2.
Aaron Jones of the United States (up 11 places to 56th) and Vikramjit Singh of the Netherlands (up nine places to 79th) are others to move up the batting rankings, while Aryan Dutt of the Netherlands is up five places to 33rd.
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