Trent Boult has been left out of New Zealand's white-ball squads to face India after the selectors gave the priority to contracted players.
The Black Caps left-arm quick made the bold choice to terminate his central contract in August, allowing him more time to focus on family life and franchise cricket.
New Zealand selected the 33-year-old for the T20 World Cup, where they lost in the semi-finals to Pakistan, but he will not come up against India in the upcoming ODI and Twenty20 International encounters.
"When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that's been the case here," Black Caps head coach Gary Stead said.
"We're all aware of Trent's world-class ability, but at this time – as we build towards more global events, we want to give opportunities and experiences to others."
New Zealand start their three-match T20I series against India on Friday, with a trio of ODIs to follow after, and opted for 23-year-old opener Finn Allen instead of the experienced Martin Guptill.
Allen is far from inexperienced, though, with five half-centuries and a hundred in his 23 T20Is and eight 50-over internationals for New Zealand.
"The emergence and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket means a guy of the class of Martin Guptill misses out – that's just the nature of high-performance sport." Stead added.
"With the 50-over World Cup less than a year away we're keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience, especially against quality opposition such as India.
"The message to both those players is that there's a lot of international cricket ahead and the door is certainly not closed to them."
Adam Milne was another notable inclusion in Stead's squad as the 30-year-old eyes a first ODI appearance since 2017.
Tim Southee and Matt Henry will feature solely in the 50-over format, while Lockie Ferguson and Blair Tickner make up the rest of the pace-bowling department for Kane Williamson's side.
New Zealand squad in full:
Kane Williamson (captain), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry (ODI), Tom Latham (ODI) (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi (T20), Tim Southee, Blair Tickner (T20)
Sri Lanka wrap up series win as rain washes out third ODI
Sri Lanka wrapped up a 2-0 series win over New Zealand after the third ODI was rained off in Pallekele.
Will Young (56 not out) and Henry Nicholls (46 not out) had the Black Caps trundling along nicely at 112-1 after 21 overs on Tuesday, with Tim Robinson having been dismissed for nine by Mohamed Shiraz (1-23).
But the rain closed in at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and did not let up.
Eventually, the umpires had to call off play completely, denying New Zealand the chance to restore some pride after their opening two defeats.
Data Debrief: Rain sees the good run roll on
Sri Lanka have lost only one of their last nine ODIs (W6 T1) – an eight-wicket loss against West Indies (26 October 2024).
New Zealand's Young at least was able to celebrate a ninth ODI half-century, while Nicholls fell just short of a 17th 50 in the format.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Buttler delighted England have 'winning habit back' despite fifth-match washout
Jos Buttler is pleased to have England's "winning habit back" after securing a 3-1 T20I series win over West Indies, with the final match abandoned due to rain.
England had opted to bowl and the hosts reached 44-0 through Evin Lewis (29) and Shai Hope (14) after five overs before the downpour began in St Lucia.
Despite ground staff's attempts to clear the surface, the match was abandoned, with England claiming the win, having lost the ODI leg of the tour 2-1.
The tourists had won the first three T20Is, with the West Indies earning a consolation on Saturday in a high-scoring clash. Despite not finishing their final white-ball assignment of 2024, Buttler was delighted with the work his side have done this week.
"We're delighted with the series win. We've played some brilliant cricket," Buttler said.
"I've been happy with how we've started games, setting the tone with the powerplay wickets, as we've seen from Saqib being named player of the series. We've had lots of different guys chipping in at various times, so I'm really pleased for everybody.
"The fast-bowling department is looking good, and they all bring something different with their variety, so it's exciting for English cricket to have that.
"I enjoyed it [being captain without keeping], I felt like I had a bit more time, and it was nice to be out there running around and closer to the bowlers. I got everything I wanted to out of doing that.
"It's great to have the winning habit back."
West Indies struggled to carry over their ODI form into the T20I series but were looking to restore some pride in the final match, having impressed in the fourth. Captain Rovman Powell is now hoping they can find some consistency.
"It's been a tough series and credit Jos Buttler and his team, who came to these conditions and dominated. Having said that, we played good cricket in patches but not in long enough periods," he said.
"I think we always, as a batting group, use a template, but that didn't work in our first few games. As a team, we need to assess faster. It took us two or three games. The bowling group needs to sharpen up in a few areas.
"It's always a problem with the Caribbean cricketers, we always wander off when we are not playing for West Indies. It's a treadmill, and we don't spend time together. We have to keep our communication with players and ensure they are ready to go."
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