Martin Guptill laments end of international career

By Alex Powell

Now officially retired as an international cricketer, former Black Caps opening batter Martin Guptill feels he had more to contribute to the national side.

In late 2022, Guptill’s international career was unceremoniously ended, before he gave back his contract to pursue opportunities as a Twenty20 freelancer.

All up, Guptill represented New Zealand 367 times across all three formats, with 198 of those coming in the One Day International format.

The now-38-year-old was the first Kiwi to score a century on his ODI debut, and also the first to score a double-century in the format when he hit 237 not out in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final win over the West Indies.

To this day, that innings still stands as not only the highest score by a New Zealander, but the highest individual score in a World Cup.

However, messaging from New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps was that Guptill needed to make way to invest in younger players for the future, notably fellow opening batter Finn Allen.

Yet, in mid-2024, Allen followed suit and handed back his national contract to also take up T20 opportunities, as a sign of where the sport is headed.

Guptill would have every right to feel aggrieved at that news, given he wasn’t afforded any kind of farewell match, internationally. In fact, the last he heard from Black Caps selectors was a call that he’d missed a spot at the 2023 World Cup in India.

And speaking after his international retirement was announced - two years on from his last appearance - Guptill said he was far from done when his career was ended for him.

“I guess it is what it is, and the decisions that have been made around it,” he said. “Obviously I would have loved to have played a lot more, I feel like I had a lot more to give New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps.

“But it is what it is. I’m a little bit disappointed with how it all ended, but I’ve got to move forward and move on.”

Ultimately, Guptill will go down as arguably the greatest white-ball batter in New Zealand’s history. Only Ross Taylor (8607) and Stephen Fleming (8007) have scored more runs in ODIs than Guptill’s 7346.

Only Taylor (21) has scored more centuries than Guptill’s 18. However, Guptill’s coming at the top of the order, as opposed to Taylor’s primary spot at No 4 would arguably give them more weight, in terms of difficulty.

Of New Zealand’s highest scores in the format, Guptill holds three of the top four spots, only bisected by Taylor.

In T20 cricket, Guptill was the format’s leading international scorer with 3531 runs, including two centuries - a feat only matched by Brendon McCullum, and Colin Munro, who managed three.

On top of that, Guptill was also among the best fielders in the world, and famously ended the international career of India legend M.S. Dhoni with a run out at the 2019 World Cup.

However, test cricket stands tallest as the biggest “what if?” for Guptill’s career.

All up, Guptill played in whites 47 times for the Black Caps, and scored 2586 runs at an average of just under 30, with three centuries.

Players like McCullum, Nathan Astle and even current incumbent Rachin Ravindra were all afforded the chance to open the batting in white ball cricket, and slot into the middle order in tests.

Guptill had a similar opportunity. His highest test score - 189 against Bangladesh in 2010 - came at No 5, a spot where he averaged 43.37, admittedly from a small sample size of five tests.

But while other players have perhaps hidden from the responsibility of opening, Guptill saw it as his best role.

“I had the opportunity to keep batting at five, but I wanted to go back to the top,” he professed. “I’ve got no regrets, I gave it a good shot. I had so much fun doing it.

“One of my proudest moments was to get a black cap, and that sits proudly at home.”

Now, with more yesterdays than tomorrows in his career, Guptill will finish his playing career on the T20 circuit.

This season has seen him return to Auckland for their Super Smash campaign, and made 60 in his second appearance, a 13-run win over Canterbury.

Elsewhere, stints in Australia, the Caribbean, India, England, the UAE and Pakistan have seen him accrue 349 matches worth of T20 experience.

But at a time where cricket as a sport is diverging more towards club T20, Guptill is well-placed to comment on the game’s future.

At present, New Zealand is the only major country without a franchise-style tournament. And although New Zealand Cricket’s stance has started to soften on that possibility, no major change is currently in the pipeline.

On one side of the equation, the Super Smash is the ideal vehicle for players to emerge and push for higher honours, recently seen by Auckland’s Bevon Jacobs earning his maiden Black Caps call-up and an Indian Premier League contract with the Mumbai Indians.

On the other, though, is the risk that New Zealand could be left behind as other nations’ up-and-comers get to mix with some of the world’s best at club level.

Guptill, though, makes his position on the matter clear.

“I’ve been asked this question quite a lot, around different leagues. It’s too difficult to put them in order and rank them.

“I’ve had so much fun playing all of them, I love playing for Auckland. I got my first professional opportunity with Auckland, 19 years ago now.

“I’d love to see it happen, but whether it does happen or not is another story. Who knows.”

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