New Zealand’s white-ball captain Mitchell Santner said that he turned down a lucrative offer from the Big Bash League to focus on international cricket.
“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,” Santner told the New Zealand Herald.
“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.
The Kiwis have home white-ball and Test series against India and a Test tour of Australia coming up this year, and Santner noted that his decision was also based on how playing in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 competition would have impacted his role as skipper.
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“I don’t want to give up captaincy. If that was part of the deal, it was a no-brainer for me,” he said.
“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. We’ve got a World Cup next year, a T20 World Cup in New Zealand the year after. That’s something I still want to be part of. And if I’m still leading the team then, awesome,” he added.
Santner, however, said that he does not judge any player who has opted for a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket, which allows them to play in franchise leagues while remaining available for international duty.
“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,” Santner said.
“If it is a casual contract, that’s the way to keep guys invested and playing for New Zealand; that’s what we want,” he added.
Published on Sep 09, 2026
