{"id":611844,"date":"2026-09-25T23:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611844\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T23:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:32:10","slug":"black-caps-v-india-coach-rob-walter-hails-mitchell-santners-sacrifice-after-rejecting-australian-mega-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/611844\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Caps v India: Coach Rob Walter hails Mitchell Santner\u2019s sacrifice after rejecting Australian mega-contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the likes of Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Lockie Ferguson already on casual agreements<\/a> in order to play in the Big Bash, Mark Chapman has followed suit to link with the Adelaide Strikers<\/a> this summer. Adam Milne<\/a> will play for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa\u2019s SA20.<\/p>\n

But, to his coach\u2019s delight, Santner is one of the first to publicly say \u201cno\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"BlackBlack Caps white-ball captain Mitchell Santner (left) and coach Rob Walter. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I was in touch with Mitch along the way,\u201d Walter said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a measure of the man \u2013 that\u2019s not to judge any other person.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sums Mitch up, being in a position to put the team first. I know what it means to him to captain his country, and everything that goes along with it, but then also his desire to be part of the test team, especially with what\u2019s in front of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst it might be surprising to some, [it\u2019s] certainly not to me, it\u2019s just a measure of the man, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the coin, though, several other Black Caps have profited from their time in Australia.<\/p>\n

In particular, Allen became the most expensive player in Big Bash history<\/a> when he left the Perth Scorchers for the Melbourne Stars on a three-year deal worth about $740,000 per season \u2013 with the ability to rise as the league explores private equity.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s move came on the back of topping the run charts in Perth\u2019s run to the title<\/a>, as well as setting a new record for the most sixes hit in one season. Then, as a sign of his standing in the shortest format, Allen blasted a 33-ball century against South Africa<\/a> to lead the Black Caps into the final of the T20 World Cup in India.<\/p>\n

And while Walter has had to contend with players being torn between club and country in his time coaching South Africa and New Zealand, Black Caps being offered these kinds of opportunities are not something to be looked down on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m chuffed when our players are recognised,\u201d he said of Allen. \u201cHe\u2019s a man who\u2019s shown himself to be devastating when he gets going \u2013 he\u2019s won lots of games for New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"FinnFinn Allen celebrates a century for the Perth Scorchers against the Melbourne Renegades. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the reality of the world of cricket. There\u2019s more information that shows us that\u2019s the way the game is moving \u2013 and has been moving for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat excites me is the hunger and the want to play for New Zealand. They\u2019re still hungry to play, hungry to represent and they always do it well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as we can maintain that and keep our environment strong enough to pull our players back and that they always feel like it\u2019s home for them, that will be key for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Powell<\/a> is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the likes of Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Lockie Ferguson already on casual agreements in order to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,1135,24812,182015,7022,42574,13381,1320,1566,5346,71,54447,305,2344,14731,12514,7494,44191,301388,5978,5430,111,139,16546,69,18844,77461,5945,96638,172284,27053,544,213,37116,6123,143208,80],"class_list":["post-611844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-australian","tag-australias","tag-bash","tag-black","tag-caps","tag-captain","tag-coach","tag-contract","tag-expected","tag-from","tag-hails","tag-have","tag-india","tag-league","tag-leave","tag-less","tag-lucrative","tag-megacontract","tag-might","tag-mitchell","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nothing","tag-nz","tag-rejecting","tag-rob","tag-sacrifice","tag-santner","tag-santners","tag-shocked","tag-some","tag-sports","tag-walter","tag-while","tag-whiteball","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}