New Zealand great Martin Guptill hopes a stint on the domestic T20 circuit can reignite his international career and is targeting bulk runs in the Big Bash as a way to reclaim his place in the Black Caps side.
While Guptill was part of the Kiwi’s T20 World Cup squad that made the semi-finals earlier this month, he didn’t play a game in the tournament and last featured for the national side during a tri-series in October ahead of the global event.
The rise of 23-year-old power-hitter Finn Allen has dislodged Guptill from the Black Caps’ white-ball opening slot he’s held for the better part of a decade, and resulted in the veteran right-hander this week joining Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme in handing back his New Zealand Cricket central contract to chase playing opportunities abroad.
And his first stop on the world tour will be Australia owing to a strong relationship with Aussie T20 skipper Aaron Finch, who he will join at the top of the Melbourne Renegades batting line-up after signing with the club for the final 10 matches of KFC BBL|12 and finals should they qualify.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Aaron Finch throughout the different leagues and playing against him in international stuff,” said Guptill.
“And also Shaun Marsh. I’ve never played with Finchy before, obviously watched a lot of him play and watched him play some amazing innings and he’s an amazing batsman.
“So that will be a lot of fun, I’m really looking forward to getting involved with batting with those guys.”
The 36-year-old will link up with the Renegades for the rest of the season following Andre Russell’s four-match stint at the start of the tournament, with his first game on December 28 against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG.
Guptill made it very clear when announcing his release from his New Zealand contract that playing for his country was his No.1 priority and reiterated after signing with the Renegades that he wanted to add to his 367 games of international cricket.
“It’s all about playing as much cricket as I can while I’ve got only got a few years left in the game,” he said.
“I need to be playing as much cricket as possible and I guess being on the outer of the international team at the moment, I just needed to go away and find some cricket and get back playing.
“If I can do that and score some big runs and hopefully win some games for the Renegades, it’s going to be great start to getting back in.”
But as much as he wanted to find some game time, Guptill revealed handing back his contract was a “huge decision” and something he mulled over for a period of time, given the Black Caps stated preference of selecting those players with central or domestic deals.
“When I was a young kid growing up all I wanted to do was play cricket for New Zealand,” he said. “To play one game was amazing and to have played 360-odd games for my country, I’m never going to take that for granted, it’s an amazing achievement and one that I’ll just cherish for the rest of my life.
“Hopefully I can add to it, get into the 370s maybe, but we’ll just wait and see what happens in the future.
“I’ve loved playing for New Zealand and loved being part of what we’ve achieved over the last decade or so since I’ve been in the side and it’s sad to have walked away from the contract, but it also opens up different avenues.
“The door is not closed on me playing for New Zealand again, so hopefully I’ve got my foot in there still and I can score some runs and get back in there.
“I want to keep playing on, keep contributing to teams and if that’s a way of getting back into the New Zealand team and the New Zealand setup, then that’s the way it’s going to be so I just want to try and play as much as I can.”
Perhaps the most anticipated game Guptill’s Big Bash stint with be the highly-anticipated Melbourne derby on January 3, where he will go he will go head-to-head with Kiwi teammate Boult under lights at the MCG.
“We’ve trained with each other and played against each other a fair bit over the years. He’s going to be wanting to blow my front board off, no doubt, so I’m looking forward to that and we’ll have a good chuckle on the field as well,” Guptill said.
Melbourne Renegades BBL|12 squad (so far): Nic Maddinson (c), Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Ruwantha Kellapotha (Sri Lanka), Shaun Marsh, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Andre Russell (West Indies), Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells
