New Zealand Cricket has awarded casual contracts to four white-ball specialists Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert, and Adam Milne for the 2026/27 season. The announcement comes after NZC unveiled its 20-player central contracts list in June. The casual contracts are aimed at bolstering New Zealand’s squad ahead of the white-ball series against India later this year and the 2027 ODI World Cup.
According to a release from New Zealand Cricket, the casual contracts awarded to Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert, and Adam Milne for the 2026/27 season will come into effect from August 1.
NZ selector Gavin Larsen said that he was pleased to have Milne, Ferguson, Allen and Seifert available for the series against the Men in Blue and the all-important World cup next year. The four cricketers have played over 400 international games (combined) for New Zealand.
“We’re delighted to add Finn, Lockie, Adam and Tim to our contracting programme for the next period. It goes without saying the talent and match-winning abilities all four players possess and we’ve seen them do just that for the BLACKCAPS on many occasions. Their skills are in demand around the world and we see that as a positive as they’re able to add to their experiences and bring those back to our environment,” Larsen said.
Under the casual contracts, the players will be integrated into New Zealand Cricket’s high-performance programme, giving them access to coaching, medical and mental skills support, as well as gym and cricket training facilities.
These four players will be available for selection for the five-match ODI and T20I series against India which will begin in November.
“There’s no secret the in-bound India mega-tour is of critical importance to NZC on and off the field,”. The tour features 10 white-ball games over 25 days, followed immediately by a block of six Tests – so we’re well aware we’ll need a deep squad, particularly in the pace-bowling department, to be at our best across the different series,” Larsen added.
New Zealand central contracts list: Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Will Young.