South Africa-born Otago allrounder Dean Foxcroft will miss a second successive domestic season in New Zealand due to Covid-enforced border restrictions.
Immigration NZ (IMZ) has not approved an exception to its border restrictions, which means Foxcroft will be cut from Otago's contracts list. The 23-year old was one of 15 players to be offered contracts last month, pending a border exemption.
"We are devastated for Dean," Otago Cricket Chief Executive Mike Coggan said. "He has made a formal commitment with New Zealand Cricket to make himself available, through the qualifying process, to play for the BlackCaps but due to the current Government restrictions in place he is unable to get back into the country to meet these commitments."
"He is absolutely distraught, and we are too. Over the past 18 months we have done everything possible to get him back to Otago and at every turn our applications have been denied. He sees himself as a New Zealander who aspires to play for New Zealand one day. We will not give up on supporting Dean to realise his goals".
Foxcroft's last competitive game was a Plunket Shield fixture for Otago against Central Districts in March 2020. He is among the most promising youngsters in domestic cricket, with a batting average of 51.15 and 41.46 in List A and T20 cricket respectively.