Outgoing New Zealand Cricket CEO David White expects Trent Boult to be in the New Zealand squad for the ODI World Cup in India following "positive conversations" with the left-arm pacer who gave up his national contract last year.
Boult released himself from the contract last August to spend more time with family and keep playing franchise cricket. He has not played for New Zealand since the T20 World Cup in October-November with New Zealand giving priority to contracted players.
"We have made it very clear that priority is given to centrally-contracted players," White told New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB this week.
"That was the case during the summer. It is very important for the integrity of the competition and of the contracting model that we give priority to our centrally-contracted players.
"In saying that, we've had a lot of conversations with Trent over the last few weeks and months. I'd be very surprised if he wasn't representing New Zealand in the World Cup, and we're having very positive conversations with him."
Earlier this month, Boult had expressed a big desire to the play the World Cup in India in October-November.
"I remember after the 2019 final, I said to Kane (Williamson) that we've got to be there again, come 2023 in India. One hundred percent, I've got that desire to be out there," he had told ESPNCricinfo.
'Cricket bankrolled primarily by India and that is a positive'
Boult has chosen to give more time to franchise cricket than international cricket but White feels a substantial number of cricketers still preferred country over playing in T20 leagues.
"I think that the players still say that Test cricket and representing their country is still the pinnacle. The majority of the players, that is certainly the case.
"It would be fair to say that a lot of the players that are going into leagues are former (internationals), or (are) towards the end of their career. So I am not so concerned about that.
"The really positive thing about cricket compared to a lot of other sports is that it's being bankrolled primarily by India, which is now the most populated country in the world. There are huge resources and a lot of revenue, which is good for cricket.
"So it's just important that New Zealand Cricket ensures that we stay relevant. That way we influence the international game at the ICC level, and we can compete at the highest level," White added.
