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New Zealand star bowler Trent Boult opened up about his release from the central contract last year, saying that "your spot is never guaranteed" but he wanted to open doors for other players into the team.
Playing his 100th ODI match, Boult took three wickets of 37 runs in the match against England at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday. "Your spot is never guaranteed, and the decision was made over a year ago, I decided to step aside and fully appreciated that giving my contract back would open the door to other players to come through. Selections were prioritised for the contracted 20 [players] in New Zealand and I fully appreciated that," Boult said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. "The decision was solely made around time away with a young family, I couldn't travel as much. It just became too hard. I prioritised my time with them and gave myself a chance to play some cricket around to world, to see what I could learn," he added. This was Boult's first international appearance since last year's T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan. Notably, Boult's performance in the match earned him a place in the provisional 15-man squad announced by New Zealand for next month's 50-over World Cup. "It was great to be back in familiar surroundings. It was a very good feeling, chucking back on the black ODI kit - and on the side, the individual milestone of 100 games added to that feeling as well," Boult said ahead of Wednesday's third ODI at The Oval. "Selection for the World Cup was never guaranteed and I was never expecting it to be. I had to work for it and I'm very happy to be here. I just hope I can add value and take the tournament very deep, like we have in the last couple of attempts. I feel like we can really push this tournament to the final stages and give it a good crack," he added. Boult acknowledged that even though New Zealand finished second in the last two 50-over World Cups, it's still difficult for him to let go of the tied 2019 final. "What was probably a little bit hard was coming back, after a year, to play for New Zealand, and it's a rain delay and it's the only game playing on the big screens at the ground," he . "That pushed me a little bit. The ODI World Cup is that big tournament that everyone wants to be a part of. I've been part of a couple so far and although there seems to be a world event every year, this ODI World Cup has always got a special feeling around it once we touch down in India, I'm sure the feelings will be pretty strong with a lot of excitement." (ANI)
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