Still Need To Have That Conversation, Says Gary Stead On Trent Boult’s International Future

Still need to have that conversation, says Gary Stead on Trent Boult’s international future (Image Source: IANS)

ODI World Cup: New Zealand men’s head coach Gary Stead admitted that he is yet to have a conversation about left-arm pacer Trent Boult’s international future and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of him being in the team in future.

Boult returned for New Zealand ahead of Men’s ODI World Cup via the bilateral series against England in September, after giving up his central contract to play franchise cricket around the world.

After New Zealand’s campaign in 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup ended in the semi-final stage, Boult has made himself unavailable for New Zealand's upcoming two-match Test series in Bangladesh. Instead, he will be playing for Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

"At this stage, Trent and I still need to have a conversation. He's unavailable for the Bangladesh Test series. He's got other commitments in a T10 league, and then the UAE T20 league as well. I think that eats right into the February time period."

"So, it looks unlikely that Trent will play too much in our home summer. He may be available for the T20s against Australia. I still need to have that conversation with him," Stead was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Boult will then play for MI Emirates in the ILT20 happening in the UAE from January 19 to February 18 in 2024. In the second half of ILT20 month, New Zealand are also scheduled to play three T20Is against Australia in February 2024, in preparation for the Men’s T20 World Cup happening in West Indies & USA in June 4-30 that year.

"I think there's every chance (we will see him again) provided his desire is there to keep playing. I think he's still a world class bowler," added Stead.

Talking of the ODI World Cup campaign, Stead said, "Look, I'm very, very proud of the way we played. We stuck to our style of play and we fired some shots as well. That's what we keep talking about. Obviously disappointed that we didn't get over the line."

"You always go to world events and you want to make the final or you want to win the final. That's the disappointing part of it, but the way we went about our cricket, it was a pretty satisfying campaign still."