Vincent doesn't harbour New Zealand ambitions

Lou Vincent's ICL contract currently bars him from playing for New Zealand, but the batsman says he was unlikely to play international cricket at present even if he had a choice. Vincent said he considered his New Zealand career over when he was dropped for the home series against Bangladesh in December 2007; New Zealand Cricket terminated his contract in February this year when he joined the league.

"I haven't considered it [playing again for New Zealand]," Vincent told Gulf News. "At this stage it is way out of my mind because we're not allowed to play. I made a decision to retire from international cricket last year, so I have no ambition to play for New Zealand.

"In a couple of years' time things might fall into place with the ICL and if things change then I'm sure there'll be opportunities to play again."

Vincent said he wanted to play Twenty20 cricket in the ICL. "It's basically from where the IPL took off and was introduced and now everyone's talking about these two formats which are basically one and the same".

Vincent started his Test career in a promising manner, scoring a hundred and a fifty against Australia in Perth. He was part of New Zealand's squad for the 2007 World Cup, but was ruled out of the tournament with a broken wrist after scoring two ducks - against England and Kenya - and a hundred against Canada. However, a poor run in all forms since his return from injury led to his exclusion from the team.

Vincent, who had admitted to suffering from depression, said the opportunity with the ICL came at a time when he was uncertain about his future. "I feared I was going to be unemployed because I had a family to support and mortgages to pay. I'm so grateful that the ICL came along and offered me something with which I could secure things [for my family] for a few years."