Fast bowler Adam Milne has been offered a central New Zealand Cricket (NZC) contract for the first time in five years.

Adam Milne has been handed a central contract for New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the first time in five years. The 31-year-old fast bowler played in 16 white ball games for the national team last season and is a possible pick for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year.

Milne also played his first ODI in more than five years in November, with his last game of that format coming during the 2017 Champions Trophy.

"Adam has worked exceptionally hard and shown resilience over the past few years to earn this contract offer," said coach Gary Stead. "He's always been a top-class bowler and we've been impressed with his consistent contributions over the last summer at home and the Pakistan tour."

The 20-man contract list released by the board for the 2023/24 season features one notable absentee in Ajaz Patel. The left-arm spinner, who is only the third bowler in Test cricket history to take all 10 wickets in an innings, played just two Tests last year and played no games at all for the white-ball teams.

Also not on the list is the trio of Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme and Martin Guptill, all of whom previously applied to be released from NZC contracts to appear more regularly in franchise cricket around the world. However, NZC have stated that Boult has committed to be available to the Black Caps for part of the game program and has therefore been offered a casual game deal.

Central contracts for 2023-24

Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.