Cricket bosses left scrambling after Black Caps star's Big Bash move

Cricket bosses are scrambling to deal with the latest club v country problem after Colin de Grandhomme was surprisingly picked in Australia's Big Bash draft.

The 36-year-old all-rounder will need a clearance from New Zealand Cricket to join the Adelaide Strikers, because he is under contract until July.

Everyone was taken by surprise when de Grandhomme was selected by Strikers coach Jason Gillespie in the inaugural international draft.

Players Association head Heath Mills said his organisation and New Zealand Cricket weren't even aware he had put his name into the draft. Mills said even de Grandhomme, who plays for Northern Districts, would have been "pleasantly surprised" to get the call-up from Gillespie.

Bowling great Trent Boult was recently released from his New Zealand Cricket contract in what some observers around the world saw as a watershed moment for the sport.

De Grandhomme may have decided to try his Big Bash luck, given that his decade-long international career appeared to be tailing off.

Mills said meetings over the next week should find a solution.

"There is more and more cricket being played around the world and the T20 competitions want players who are available for the whole tournament," Mills told NZME.

"And players get to a certain age, are not in the New Zealand team regularly, and other options become attractive. And that can't always happen with perfect timing.

"He hasn't been in the team a little bit of late…all those thoughts go around in a player's head."

The 20 New Zealand contracted players are required to play for the Black Caps and domestic matches, unless they are granted a no-objection certificate.

Mills said: "It could be that both parties mutually agree to terminate the international agreement but I don't want to pre-empt any outcomes."

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission