NZ trio Colin de Grandhomme, Jeet Raval and Neil Broom earn central contracts from the board

Colin de Grandhomme, Jeet Raval and Neil Broom have earned themselves central contracts as New Zealand Cricket release their central contract list for the 2017-18 season. Doug Bracewell and Mark Craig saw their names out of the 21 player list with Luke Ronchi, who decided to hang up his boots from international cricket earlier this year.

Performance:

Colin de Grandhomme has contributed with both bat and ball for the nation. While his contributions as a batsman have not been effective enough, he has made a mark as a bowler. Grandhomme has scored 387 runs across formats since making his debut in 2016 at an average of 28.35. As far as his bowling is concerned he has taken 26 wickets in that time including a personal best of 6/41 against Pakistan on his Test debut.

However, Jeet Raval has been decent with his bat for New Zealand since making his debut. After making his debut against Pakistan last year in November, Raval has scored 493 runs at an average of 44.81. Raval got the opportunity of opening the Kiwi line up in each of their 7 Tests in the 2016-17 home season.

Neil Broom got the opportunity to feature for New Zealand in two Test matches but has been an important figure as far as the ODIs are concerned. Brooms ODI average stands at an impressive 43 since December 2016. He has scored 602 runs in the process since that time. His tally is marked by 4 half centuries and a single century.

“Colin made a breakthrough last summer and is rated well in all three formats; Jeet’s Test numbers speak for themselves, and Neil, as well as averaging 43 in ODI cricket since his recall, is also seen as viable cover for the Test team’s middle-order,” selector Gavin Larsen said.

BJ Watling was the only specialist wicketkeeper to earn himself a central contract in the absence of Luke Ronchi.

New Zealand central contracts list: Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, George Worker