Colin Munro to play only short-format cricket

Colin Munro, one of the most celebrated batsmen in Twenty20 cricket, has said that he was not going to put himself in the fray for selection in four- or five-day cricket anymore, and will only focus on white-ball cricket, internationally and domestically.

Munro, 30, has played just the one Test for New Zealand – against South Africa in January 2013 – but has turned out in 39 one-day internationals and 45 T20 Internationals. Overall, he has played 161 T20 games, scoring 3712 runs at an average of 30.17 and a strike rate of 148.89, and is ranked No.1 in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for batsmen.

He ruled himself out of the remaining rounds of the Plunket Shield, the country’s premier first-class competition where he represents Auckland, saying, “It would be fair to say that my focus hasn’t been on four-day cricket this season and my passion for that format of the game isn’t what it once was.

“I'm still 100 per cent committed to playing for the Black Caps and Auckland Aces in the shorter formats and have some big goals I'd like to achieve. Obviously with the (50-over) World Cup next year, I'd love to give myself the best chance of making that squad and that's where my main focus is.”

Munro is the only batsman to have hit three T20I centuries, and his decision comes close on the heels of Chris Lynn, the Australian batsman, as well as Alex Hales and Adil Rashid, the England internationals, opting out of contracts for long-form cricket.

Lynn, whose career has been blighted by injuries, said no to a contract from Queensland last year for the 2017-18 season, saying that he wants to focus on getting his wonky shoulder fixed and play only the shortest format of the game.

Hales and Rashid, both former England Test players, also signed white-ball only deals with their county sides – Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively – earlier this year.