New Zealand's six Major Associations have announced their first round of contracted male players for the 2026/27 domestic summer, with several notable movements and new faces across the country.
Major Associations can name up to 15 players in the first round of contract announcements, followed by a two-week official transfer window that allows uncontracted players the chance of assessing their options with another MA. Following this, each Major Association will name a further player to complete their 16-man contract list.
Contracted players receive a retainer and form the core of each Major Association's campaigns across the Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Dream11 Super Smash, but uncontracted players typically also get chances to shine and impress in each region during the season.
Movements
Auckland welcome Jimmy Neesham to their setup on a full-time basis after the experienced allrounder has played on a casual basis at both international and domestic level since 2021/22. Neesham brings a wealth of experience across all aspects of the game, most recently captaining New Zealand as the 12th men's T20I captain.
Adithya Ashok also returns to the Auckland contract list, as well as Muhammad Abbas for Wellington, after both featured on the BLACKCAPS central contract list last season.
Henry Shipley makes the move to Wellington after spending his entire career to this point at Canterbury, bringing considerable experience at both domestic and international level having represented the BLACKCAPS across T20I and ODI formats.
Nick Kelly returns to Northern Districts, the region where he began his domestic career in 2015/16, after two seasons with Otago and four seasons leading Wellington in all three formats. The move comes off the back of a landmark summer for Kelly, having made his international debut in both T20I and ODI formats and captaining New Zealand as the country's 13th men's T20I captain.
Jake Gibson heads to Central Districts after featuring across all three formats for the Otago Volts. The allrounder's best figures of 5-31 in 50-over cricket and a T20 knock of 96 off just 63 balls illustrate his ability to contribute in any format, slotting neatly into the Stags' order wherever needed.
New Faces
The 2026/27 season sees a crop of players earn their first domestic contracts across the country.
Auckland's Luke Watson earns his first full contract after debuting in both the T20 and first-class formats last season. Watson has previously represented Auckland at A level on several occasions and featured for New Zealand at the 2023/24 ICC Men’s Under 19 World Cup.
Otago's new signings show the youth movement in full effect. Tom Jones earns his first contract off the back of an impressive debut first-class season, highlighted by a century in the opening round of the Plunket Shield's 100th season. Teammate Thomas O'Connor also receives his maiden contract after playing a major role in Otago's late-season Plunket Shield charge. Although resulting in a tiebreaker defeat for Otago, the seamer produced a 13-wicket haul just four matches into his domestic career, emerging as an exciting prospect to watch.
Canterbury welcome Lachie Harper to their contract list for the first time. The bowling allrounder made consistent contributions across eight games in both the Ford Trophy and Super Smash competitions during his debut season, no mean feat in a squad boasting a significant number of BLACKCAPS when available.
At Central Districts, Taylor Bettelheim earns a full-season contract having first been contracted part-way through last season, while Sam Cassidy moves to a full contract after making his way through the Central Districts development pathway. Cassidy has already represented New Zealand at the 2024 Hong Kong International Sixes tournament and showed his power during last season's Super Smash competition, demonstrating he is no stranger to high-level competition.
Northern Districts' Snehith Reddy returns to the contract list after earning his place back this season.
2026/27 Domestic Contracts (First Round)
Auckland Cricket
Adithya Ashok, Angus Olliver, Ben Lister, Bevon Jacobs, Cam Fletcher, Dale Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Jock McKenzie, Lachlan Stackpole, Luke Watson, Rohit Kumar, Ryan Harrison, Samrath Singh, Sean Solia, Simon Keene
Wellington Cricket
Callum McLachlan, Gareth Severin, Henry Shipley, James Hartshorn, Jesse Tashkoff, Liam Dudding, Logan van Beek, Muhammad Abbas, Nick Greenwood, Oscar Jackson, Peter Younghusband, Sam Mycock, Samuel Morgan, Tim Robinson, Yahya Zeb
Northern Districts (Super Smash 2025/26 winners)
Xavier Bell, Josh Brown, Joe Carter, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Henry Cooper, Matt Fisher, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Scott Kuggeleijn, Robbie O'Donnell, Ben Pomare, Tim Pringle, Snehith Reddy
Otago Cricket
Matt Bacon, Jack Boyle, Max Chu, Mason Clarke, Jacob Cumming, Zac Cumming, Danru Ferns, Luke Georgeson, Troy Johnson, Tom Jones, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Thomas O'Connor, Thorn Parkes, Jamal Todd
Canterbury Cricket (Plunket Shield 2025/26 winners)
Matt Boyle, Chad Bowes, Leo Carter, Sean Davey, Jesse Frew, Lachie Harper, Scott Janett, Ish Sodhi, Rhys Mariu, Cole McConchie, Gus McKenzie, Cam Paul, Michael Rae, Matt Rowe, Fraser Sheat
Central Districts (Ford Trophy 2025/26 winners)
Taylor Bettelheim, Tom Bruce, Sam Cassidy, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Joey Field, Toby Findlay, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Curtis Heaphy, Jayden Lennox, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Brad Schmulian, Ray Toole
BLACKCAPS Central Contract List 2026/27:
Tom Blundell – Wellington
Michael Bracewell – Wellington
Mark Chapman – Auckland
Devon Conway – Wellington
Jacob Duffy – Otago
Zak Foulkes – Canterbury
Mitch Hay – Canterbury
Matt Henry – Canterbury
Kyle Jamieson – Canterbury
Tom Latham – Canterbury
Daryl Mitchell – Canterbury
Henry Nicholls – Canterbury
Will O'Rourke – Canterbury
Glenn Phillips – Otago
Rachin Ravindra – Wellington
Mitchell Santner – Northern Districts
Ben Sears – Wellington
Nathan Smith – Wellington
Blair Tickner – Central Districts
Will Young – Central Districts