New Zealand's Kane Williamson celebrates his century against England, Hamilton, 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The New Zealand summer of cricket is over but many of the country's top players are headed north to extend their season and boost their earnings in England.
More than 20 New Zealanders will feature in various competitions during England's domestic season across the red ball County Championship, T20 Blast and The Hundred.
New Zealand cricketers have being taking up county contracts for decades - notably Sir Richard Hadlee who spent 10 seasons at Nottinghamshire, Glenn Turner who had 15 seasons at Worcestershire and Martin Crowe who early in his career played for Somerset - for some players it is an opportunity to grow their game and push for an international call-up for others it is a chance to earn a bit more plying their trade while the rest of Aotearoa focuses on winter codes.
Since 2021 counties have been able to field two overseas players in all competitions and current and recently retired Black Caps are sought after to fill those spots due to limited overlap between the England domestic season and New Zealand international commitments.
The County Championship - contested between 18 teams - has just started this week and is followed by the white ball competitions in May and August.
Kane Williamson will play for Middlesex taking part in 10 of the T20 Blast group fixtures and at least five of the County Championship clashes in the second half of the season.
Williamson will also captain London Spirit in fifth year of The Hundred - a 100-ball competition contested between eight teams.
The Hundred begins a few days before Williamson's 35th birthday in early August and his Spirit side will take on the defending champion Oval Invincibles at Lord's in the opening clash.
Williamson made his first county cricket appearance in 2011 for Gloucestershire, not long after he started playing for the Black Caps, and he was there at the same time as fellow Northern Districts and New Zealand player Hamish Marshall. He has also played several seasons for Yorkshire but was last in the county cricket competition in 2018.
Black Caps captain Mitch Santner will play for Surrey from late May to mid June in the T20 Blast making him available for the early stages of the competition and the knockouts if they qualify.
Santner is not the only Black Cap who will be with Surrey this season, with all-rounder Nathan Smith making the move from Worcestershire to play in the T20 Blast and County Championship.
In The Hundred Santner has also signed with the Northern Superchargers based out of Headingley.
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner during the first ODI international cricket match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve, Wellington. Photo: Kerry Marshall/www.photosport.nz
Test captain Tom Latham will play in all three formats for Warwickshire, a county which struggled for success last season. He was recruited by former New Zealand player and national selector Gavin Larsen who is now the performance director at the county's cricket club.
County cricket regular, Black Caps pace bowler Matt Henry, will return to Somerset two years after he was last at the county.
Henry has signed for 11 weeks - between April and June - and will be available for seven County Championship matches and eight T20 Blast games.
The last time he was signed to Somerset in 2023 he was the leading wicket-taker in the T20 competition and was player of the match in the final.
Fellow Black Caps fast bowlers Will O'Rourke and Ben Sears have signed for Yorkshire - but will not be available for the county at the same time.
Sears will be at Headingly first for the County Championship red ball season from the end of next week, whereas O'Rourke will play the first eight games of the T20 Blast starting in May.
Current world number one T20 bowler Jacob Duffy is the latest New Zealander to join Worcestershire (there have been 10 New Zealanders before him) where he will play red and white ball cricket in the first part of the County Championship and T20 Blast campaigns from April to June.
Duffy has previously played for Kent and Nottinghamshire.
Blair Tickner during a One Day International at Eden Park on 25 March 2023. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Black Caps fast bowler Blair Tickner's first stint in the County Championship for Derbyshire ended when he needed to focus on family following his wife's cancer diagnosis.
Tickner had played seven games for Derbyshire in 2024 before he found out Sarah had leukaemia.
He has signed on to play in all formats for the county this season.
Former Black Cap Neil Wagner will re-join Durham for the second half of the county cricket season.
Wagner played white ball cricket for the county last season before he was injured.
The bowler heads back to England fresh off winning the Plunket Shield for the first time in his final game of domestic cricket in New Zealand.
Wagner will play red ball cricket for the county this season with his first game for Durham on 22 June against Sussex.
Canterbury all-rounder Zak Foulkes. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2024 www.photosport.nz
New Black Cap Zak Foulkes switches from Warwickshire to Durham for the group stages of the T20 Blast.
Wagner's Northern Districts team mate Brett Hampton will join Hampshire for the first two months of the County Championship season as an injury replacement.
The all-rounder replaces Australian Jack Edwards.
New Zealand bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee will reunite at the Birmingham Phoenix for The Hundred. Adam Milne will also be with the Phoenix this season. The team is coached by former Black Cap Dan Vettori.
Black Cap Rachin Ravindra will play in The Hundred for the first time with the Manchester Originals.
Amelia Kerr of New Zealand bowls during ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Photo: Photosport
White Fern Melie Kerr, who is ICC women's player of the year, will play for the Manchester Originals women in her third season in The Hundred, she has previously played two seasons for London Spirit.
Back playing cricket after a wellbeing break, White Fern Sophie Devine, has been drafted to the Southern Brave for The Hundred.
Devine is a regular in overseas franchise leagues and played since 2022 for the Birmingham Phoenix women which were coached by White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer for five seasons.
Black Caps Michael Bracewell and Finn Allen, who were both involved in New Zealand's last T20 series against Pakistan, will play for the Southern Brave.
Allen last played for the Brave in 2023 but it is Bracewell's first time in The Hundred.
Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who like Allen turned down a central contract for New Zealand, will play for the Trent Rockets in The Hundred as he continues to be a gun for hire.
The Rockets will be Ferguson's third Hundred team after he previously turned out for the Manchester Originals in 2021 and the Welsh Fire in 2023.
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