Roger Twose left Warwickshire to play international cricket for New Zealand © Getty Images

Three overseas players are targeting a future in New Zealand after pledging their future to the country. Grant Elliott and Kruger van Wyk, from South Africa, and Alun Evans formally of Glamorgan, have committed to undertake the residency qualification so they are no longer overseas players.

Under new terms in New Zealand domestic cricket none of the player pool money set aside for major associations can be spent on overseas cricketers. The players must either gain residency or be paid from outside the pool.

Under ICC rules a player must have spent at least 183 days in the country for three years before they qualify. However Richard Reid, the Canterbury chief executive, told the Herald on Sunday that players were not trying to work around the payment rules.

"This is a guy [van Wyk], and Grant Elliott at Wellington is another, who are like a lot of South Africans looking to move their lives here.

"The agreement we have with the CPA [New Zealand Cricket Players' Association] is that we will look favourably at these guys who have committed to New Zealand."

"From Canterbury's point of view, we needed a wicketkeeper. Michael Papps wants to open the batting for New Zealand and asking him to keep wickets for 120 overs a game wasn't going to help him achieve that."

Evans, 31, has never been able to nail down a regular spot in the Glamorgan side and would now have to play as an overseas player if he returned to county cricket.

Roger Twose is the most notable player to switch his allegiance to New Zealand after he left Warwickshire and made his international debut in 1995. He formed a useful career, playing 16 Test and 87 one-day internationals.

New Zealand domestic cricket has attracted a number of overseas players including Matthew Maynard, who is now an England coach, and in more recent years Ben Smith, Jonathan Trott and Min Patel.