Todd Astle bags his first New Zealand contract

Canterbury's legspinning allrounder Todd Astle has been offered a New Zealand contract for the first time, while James Neesham and Neil Broom were left out of the list of 20 contracted players for the 2018-19 period.

"Todd's progress over the past 12 months has been exciting to see. When fit, he made the most of his opportunities in both Test and ODI cricket," said New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said. "We have a big summer ahead; we know Todd performs well in New Zealand conditions, and we also have a spin-friendly tour against Pakistan coming up.

"Between Todd, Ish and Mitchell our spin bowling stocks have probably never looked better. Jimmy and Neil didn't show the consistency required over the past year and we'd like to see them go back and demand our attention again through domestic performance."

The new master agreement between NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association is yet to be finalised, but both parties came to an agreement so that the contracts process was not delayed.

The new contracts will come into effect from August 1.