Blackcaps fans shouldn't get used to seeing Trent Boult wearing the silver fern, with coach Gary Stead conceding the veteran bowler will play little to no part in the upcoming New Zealand summer.
Boult, 34, returned from an international exile to take part in likely his final Cricket World Cup campaign, where the Blackcaps were beaten by hosts India in the semi-finals.
His selection came after Boult handed back his NZ Cricket contract in 2022 to become a freelance Twenty20 specialist, with deals in Australia, India, the UAE and even American Major League Cricket.
Boult signed a new casual playing agreement with NZC earlier this year, effectively allowing him to play for the national team, provided it didn't overlap with any franchise commitments.
This summer, the Blackcaps are scheduled to host Bangladesh (three one-dayers, three T20s), Pakistan (five T20s), South Africa (two tests) and Australia (three T20s, two tests).
With Boult already signed up to play in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, as well as the UAE's International League T20 over the Kiwi summer, Stead admits chances are slim of the Kiwi spearhead playing on home soil.
Boult could still reunite with the Blackcaps in 2024, with another Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for the West Indies and USA in June, but his availability is still to be finalised with NZ Cricket.
"At this stage, Trent and I still need to have a conversation," Stead explained. "He's unavailable for the Bangladesh test series.
"He's got other commitments in a T10 league and then the UAE T20 league as well. That eats right into the February time period.
"It looks unlikely that Trent will play too much in our home summer. He may be available for the T20s in Australia, but I still need to have that conversation with him."
The end of the Blackcaps' World Cup campaign - in a way - represents the end of an era for this side, easily the most successful in New Zealand men's cricket.
Of the 16 players that represented the Blackcaps in India, just four are aged under 30.
Of those four, only Rachin Ravindra, currently 23, will still be younger than 30 for the 2027 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
That leaves the very real prospect that this World Cup was the last for the likes of Boult, Kane Williamson (33), Tim Southee (34), Tom Latham (31), Daryl Mitchell (32), James Neesham (33) and Mitchell Santner (31) among others.
Stead is only contracted until mid-2025 and any discussion over the futures of senior players is still to be had.
"I haven't had any conversations with guys around that," he said. "At this stage, we just keep moving on.
"The world of cricket is a changing landscape. Things have moved and changed in the last 12 months, and I'm sure they'll continue to do that.
"We'll keep trying to move with the times and try to work out what the players' needs are, and then where we're heading in the direction we're trying to head in as well."
