New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult has confirmed that he is playing in his final T20 World Cup.
One of the best exports of new-ball swing from his country, Boult has picked up 81 wickets in 60 matches in the T20I format at an economy of 7.76. He was NZ’s leading wicket-taker in the 2014 and 2021 editions of T20 World Cups.
“Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup, so yeah that’s all I have to say,” Boult said after NZ beat Uganda by nine wickets in Trinidad.
Boult, who had requested to be released from his country’s central contract back in 2022, went on to feature in all the white-ball ICC tournaments since, including the ODI World Cup in 2023 and T20 World Cups in 2022 and 2024.
The pacer’s presence this time within the Black Caps ranks, though, wasn’t enough to take his team beyond the first round. This is the first time New Zealand have failed to reach the semi finals of a white-ball ICC World Cup since 2014.
“I think T20 cricket anything can happen. We’re devastated to not qualify. We’ve been outplayed earlier in the tournament and, we haven’t qualified for good reason so it’s unfortunate but that’s how T20 cricket goes,” Boult said.
Reminiscing his journey, Boult spoke about his friendship with fast bowling partner Tim Southee and the bond they have forged over the years. “I look at it with very fond memories. We bowled a lot of overs together. I know the partnership very well, and obviously a very good friend on and off the ground. So yeah, nice to wind back the clock a little bit and see a bit of swing bowling at the top. Hopefully, a couple more still to come.”
For a cricketing nation which has had a lot of success and many proud moments in the last decade, the debate on whether this is the ‘end of an era’ had risen leading into the World Cup, one that has been fuelled since their elimination, “It’s a hard one to forecast,” Boult said. “Like I said there’s a lot of pride in the dressing room and playing for the country. We’ve had some great records across the however many years and it’s something that we don’t look at too much.
“I think there’s still some tremendous talent inside that dressing room and coming through the ranks in New Zealand cricket. So, we’re a proud nation and I think it will continue to go that way.”
New Zealand will end their T20 World Cup campaign on June 17 against PNG at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad.
