Blackcaps test captain Tim Southee makes no bones of his desire to play more of the longest format, as NZ Cricket names Scott Weenink as its new chief executive.
Despite winning the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021 and challenging the top of global rankings in recent years, New Zealand and the Blackcaps - like most of the game - have not been afforded equal opportunity to play test cricket.
With the ICC's Future Tours Programme - effectively a global cricket schedule - locked in until 2027, countries outside India, Australia and England have seen a gulf in the number of test matches they will play.
As the present schedule stands, New Zealand will play 32 tests from 2023-27.
That number pales against the number of white-ball matches scheduled for the Blackcaps outside World Cups - 46 one-day and 57 Twenty20 matches.
By comparison, the next four years will see England play 43 tests, Australia 40 and India 38. New Zealand's numbers do at least make for better reading than some other nations.
Over the next four years, South Africa will only play 28 tests and Pakistan 27, while West Indies - once the best team on the planet - have just 26.
In the cycle since the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Blackcaps have played just two three-test series, with most series comprising just two matches.
Of those 32 tests in the new cycle, 20 will come in series consisting of one or two tests, with only four three-test series - all against either India, England and Australia.
Southee - who assumed the test captaincy at the end of 2022, after Kane Williamson resigned - obviously wants to play more matches.
Even with a new chief executive appointed, Southee concedes powers far greater than NZ Cricket will decide the number of tests the Blackcaps will play.
"You know I'm a big test cricket fan," said Southee. "The guys that play test cricket, we always want more.
"Obviously, three-match series is something we've been working on, but it's up to the Future Tours [Programme] and the powers-that-be that decide those decisions."
Despite debuting a teenager in 2008, Southee has played 94 tests in 15 years. Williamson, who debuted two years later, has played the same number.
By contrast, England batter Joe Root, who debuted four years after Southee, has played 135 tests. India great Virat Kohli has played 111 tests since his 2011 debut.
Australia's Steve Smith debuted in 2010 and has played 102 tests, despite serving a one-year ban for ball tampering in 2018.
Meanwhile, Southee has full confidence in whoever succeeds long-term incumbent David White as NZ Cricket chief executive.
The game in Aotearoa has enjoyed arguably its golden era under White, with the Blackcaps reaching several world finals and winning the World Test Championship.
"The way that NZ Cricket's been running the last few years, I'd imagine they'd like to pick the ball up and carry on running in the way that NZ Cricket has been going over a period of time," he added. "It's been a reasonably successful period for NZ Cricket, so hopefully may that continue.
"It's not just the side itself, it's the organisation in behind and everyone trying to work together.
"We're the ones out there playing, but I guess it's the relationship between the players and administration as well."
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