Colin de Grandhomme, Neil Broom earn New Zealand central contract

On Tuesday, New Zealand announced the list of 21 cricketers who have been given the central contract for the upcoming season. The list included Colin de Grandhomme, Neil Broom and Jeet Raval, while Doug Bracewell and Mark Craig have been excluded. Luke Ronchi, who was among those on central contract last year and announced retirement from international cricket, was naturally the third player missing from the list. BJ Watling is the wicketkeeper-batsman who has been given the contract in place of Ronchi. READ: New Zealand players unlikely to participate in World XI series in PAK

Colin de Grandhomme played 18 matches across formats, emerging as a handy all-rounder, scoring 397 runs batting down the order and taking 26 wickets. Broom made his presence felt in the one-day internationals, playing 15 matches and scoring 602 runs. Raval, the third to get listed in the central contract, played seven Tests scoring 493 runs. Talking about the changes in the list, New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen told ESPNCricinfo, "Colin made a breakthrough last summer and is rated well in all three formats; Jeet's Test numbers speak for themselves, and Neil, as well as averaging 43 in ODI cricket since his recall, is also seen as viable cover for the Test team's middle-order.

Here is the list of the centrally contracted players for 2017-18 season: Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, George Worker.