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Former Black Caps Captain Nash Warns New Zealand Cricket

Former Black Caps captain Dion Nash has warned New Zealand cricket that they need to address the club versus country debate.

Nash was speaking after ace wicket-taker Trent Boult was ruled out of the two tests against a touring English side in February because of his return from the UAE T20 tournament just days before the series begins.

Nash backed New Zealand coach Gary Stead’s decision to rule Boult out but said the clash between T20 riches and national duty was a growing concern for the sport.

“Gary is between a rock and a hard place a little bit,” Nash told NewstalkZB’s Jason Pine.

“There are precedents and probably that conflict as a coach making special allowances for special players which is always a conflict internally.

“The guys in the squad are doing all the hard yards and the work – what happens with Trent coming straight in?”

Nash said it was also difficult for Stead and his staff to truly know if Boult was ready for test action with such little turnaround time.

“I think it’s the only call Gary can make given the circumstances, but what I would say is it’s a challenge New Zealand will come up against more and more,” he added.

“It’s not about rights and wrongs – New Zealand Cricket will have to evolve in how they deal with it, and are probably thinking about it as we speak.

“It will continue to be a tough call and they need a set of principles by which they select. We’re at a tipping point and players are being forced to make decisions.

“Heads of the game [around the world] would be better off getting out in front of this. It’s going to happen more and more.

“[Cricket could] create windows for T20 with little or next to no international cricket on – everyone could have their cake and eat it too.

“Working towards that is better than trying to do something magical like finding more money to pay them.”

/Stewart
Sports news editor