NZ domestic contracts: Milne moves to Wellington, Glenn Phillips reunites with brother Dale at Otago
All the major movements ahead of the upcoming 2022-23 season
Adam Milne will turn out for Wellington for the forthcoming domestic season • ICC via Getty
Wellington
Wellington have lined up Adam Milne to fill in the Hamish Bennett-sized void after the 35-year-old quick retired from all formats of cricket following the last season. After being part of Central Districts for more than a decade, since his debut in March 2010, Milne will now work under head coaches BJ Watling and Bruce Edgar at Wellington. He joins Logan van Beek and Ben Sears in a potent seam-bowling group.Auckland
Allrounder Simon Keene has earned his first domestic contract after having bagged 25 wickets in five first-class matches earlier this year, including career-best returns of 6 for 44 against Canterbury in March.Central Districts
Milne's departure has stripped CD of experience and firepower, but they have signed up a promising prospect in Brett Randell, who has moved from Northern Districts. Randell was the joint-highest wicket-taker in last season's Plunket Shield, with 31 strikes in six games at 14.83. Randell's entry boots a pace attack that has been further depleted by the injury-enforced absence of Ben Wheeler.Canterbury
Wicketkeeper Mitch Hay, allrounder Zak Foulkes and batter Matt Boyle have been awarded their first Canterbury contracts. After ten seasons with Northern Districts, Ish Sodhi, who resides in Christchurch with his family, will now represent Canterbury.Northern Districts
Tim Pringle, the son of former New Zealand seamer Chris Pringle, has been handed his first Northern Districts contract. The left-arm spin-bowling allrounder was recently part of a New Zealand XI that faced a touring Netherlands side in a one-day fixture in March earlier this year. More recently, Tim made his international debut for Netherlands, where he was born, dismissing Liam Livingstone with a beauty.Otago
In one of the major moves of the season, Glenn Phillips has shifted south to Otago from Auckland to reunite with his younger brother Dale. Glenn's contract will not count towards Otago's domestic contracts as he is already part of NZC's central contracts list. This is another opportunity for Glenn to bowl more in domestic cricket and establish himself as an allrounder. He can also keep wicket although a back condition has limited that skill in the recent past.Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo