Devon Conway opts for casual contract, Finn Allen declines central contract

New Zealand's central contracts list has seen some pruning with Devon Conway getting a change in contract while Finn Allen has turned down a short-form central contract. Both players have cited looking at franchise cricket opportunities as the reason for the change.

"Short-format batter Finn Allen has turned down a central contract offer to concentrate on franchise opportunities and has not been offered a casual playing contract.

"Allen will remain available for the BLACKCAPS and his selection for upcoming squads will be on a case-by-case basis," said New Zealand Cricket in a statement.

Meanwhile, Conway who is set to be a part of the SA20 in January has resultantly opted for a "casual contract" said NZC. This means he will not be available for the white-ball games against Sri Lanka which is set to overlap with the SA20 in January.

"This means the 33-year-old is available for all nine of the BLACKCAPS upcoming Test matches, as well as the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February, and the tri-series against Pakistan and South Africa ahead of it.

"The decision to offer Conway a casual playing contract was made after the left-hander committed to not only playing for the BLACKCAPS outside this January's window, but being available for key warm-up games ahead of the Champions Trophy, and scheduling breaks to manage workload issues," said NZC.

Conway himself was quoted as saying that the decision was taken keeping his family in mind.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank New Zealand Cricket for their support through this process. The decision to move away from a central playing contract isn't one I've taken lightly, but I believe it is the best for me and my family at this present time. Playing for the BLACKCAPS is still the pinnacle for me and I'm hugely passionate about representing New Zealand and winning games of international cricket," he said.

NZC's CEO Scott Weenik stated that they had to tried to retain their top talent by opting for a change in contract. ""In the current environment it's important to have flexibility in our system to navigate some of the challenges posed by franchise cricket - and this is another example of how we're working hard to retain our best players," he said.