Test cricket, retaining players top priority for new chief-executive of New Zealand Cricket

Wellington [New Zealand], August 30 : Former Wellington first-class cricketer Scott Weenink has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Cricket (NZC), with Test cricket and keeping Kiwis best players playing for the country as top priorities. 
As per ESPNCricinfo, Weenink has taken over from David White. He was also the chair of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NCPA), a position he will vacate now. 
"It was a great honour to be offered the position. I love sport and cricket in particular, and I also love the business of sport - so this seemed like an ideal role. There is a finely balanced, symbiotic relationship between community and high-performance cricket in New Zealand and one of my key responsibilities is to ensure that's maintained and sustained into the future," said Weenink. 
Weenink will formally begin his tenure on Friday and wants a balance between Tests and an ever-increasing T20 calendar. 
"I am a Test cricket romantic but also I see Test cricket as being key to keeping players playing for New Zealand. I think if we did not have Test cricket, it would be much harder to keep them interested in that. They would simply, you know, come back and play an ICC [event]. So absolutely, I will be looking to try and promote Test cricket while balancing the fact that we do need to play the higher revenue parts of the game as well," he said. 
"It is that difficult balance of recognising that Test Cricket does not make money, but it is very important for the fans and very important for the players. I think the Test Championship has been a great addition. And that is certainly going to keep the interest. It is really just trying to balance out that revenue generation part of it while, you know, generally trying to play as much Test cricket as possible," he added. 
Weenink is taking over the post when players worldwide are at times, choosing lucrative T20 contracts over national duty. Some of the examples came from New Zealand last year, with Trent Boult, James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme taking the franchise cricket route. 
The newly-appointed chief executive said that a key to keeping players in their country is flexibility. 
"I think one of the strengths of New Zealand cricket is the flexibility it has around the contracting. We need to recognise that players want to generate as much earnings for themselves during what is a short-term contract, while also wanting to play cricket for New Zealand. And it is all evolving, so we need to try and keep on top of that, make sure that we are giving players flexibility, but also really encouraging them to stay and play for New Zealand," he said. 
NZC chairperson Martin Snedden said that in order to retain players, sometimes, they should be allowed to "chase the money". 
"We are in a battle for the retention of players and therefore we have to ensure that the players see real value in staying available for New Zealand as often as possible … If it is important to players that they are regarded as great players, players that have succeeded, they have to play at the international level to get that reputation. So we have just got to be able to continue offering them an environment they want to be part of, whilst demonstrating to them we understand that from time to time they need the flexibility to chase the money," said Snedden. 
He said that Weenink has "a great deal to offer in all the key areas, plus some special experiences that specifically suited the skillset needed in this position". 
"He understands the relationship between community and high-performance sport; he is very familiar with world cricket affairs and current issues, and he has spent a significant time running organisations and projects within Asia, obviously a major region of importance for NZC. Scott understands cricket. He understands its context in New Zealand; where it is come from, where it is now, and where it should be going," he concluded.