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Kane Williamson has retired from international cricket, and a number of other New Zealand first-XI batters are also past 30. While some batters like Daryl Mitchell are at the peak of their powers, New Zealand's selectors may have to test out the younger batters and expose them to international cricket at some point in the near future. Among those, Central Districts' Curtis Heaphy might be at the top of the selectors' list. He can keep wicket as well. The 23-year-old Heaphy averages over 50 in List A cricket and almost 45 in first-class cricket after 34 and 30 games respectively. He has scored first-class hundreds for New Zealand A in South Africa and Sri Lanka. He also led CD to the one-day Ford Trophy title in 2025-26 with a century in a chase of 303 against Canterbury in Wellington. Heaphy tends to respond well to crises, a trait highly valued by New Zealand. In that Ford Trophy final, CD's regular keeper Dane Cleaver was down with a back complaint, but Heaphy stepped in at the last minute and pulled off a brilliant double-shift. After keeping wicket for 50 overs, he set up CD's chase with 105. Two months later, in an unofficial Test in April in Hambantota, he dug in for 162, which spanned around nine hours against a Sri Lanka A attack, which included internationals Milan Rathnayaka, Ramesh Mendis and Sonal Dinusha. More recently in June, Heaphy was part of a New Zealand high-performance camp at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai. Success with the New Zealand A team and exposure to varied conditions have boosted his confidence. "I had a tour to South Africa before that [Sri Lanka tour] and also Bangladesh probably a year before Sri Lanka," Heaphy recalled, speaking to Cricinfo in Chennai in June. "And I learned a lot from that tour. Then I managed to have a better game plan around when I did go to Sri Lanka - about how I wanted to go about it, especially facing the spin. I think that helped massively. And it was nice just to be able to implement that and get rewarded for that. "I remember jumping straight into the ice bath after that marathon knock in Sri Lanka (laughs). It was very, very hot. It was a really humid day even more so and we ended up fielding first. So I was out there for a good chunk of time before we even got to bat anyway." Having tackled spinners in Guyana's Global Super League (GSL) in conditions that favoured the slower bowlers, Heaphy has a reference point for what to do in spin-friendly conditions in the subcontinent. "Absolutely loved my time there in Guyana," Heaphy said. "I guess the wickets were pretty similar to Bangladesh. So going to Bangladesh just before that tour was actually really helpful for me. The wickets obviously spun quite a lot. I think we were bowling 16 or 17 overs a spin each innings in the T20, which is pretty uncommon back in New Zealand. "I haven't tended to play the sweep too much in New Zealand. But obviously coming over here [to the subcontinent], you need a bit of a get-out-of-jail shot. That's been one I've been trying to develop. So it's more just coming over here that I guess you try to develop." Heaphy has plans of following in the footsteps of two of New Zealand's greatest batters. "Obviously watched him [Ross Taylor] massively growing up and then Kane as well," Heaphy said. "It's obviously a bit sad seeing Kane retire. But yeah, they were the two people I grew up watching and want to follow them. I text him [Taylor] a bit and give him a buzz every now and then. He's really good at helping me with different questions and stuff I have." **** Heaphy is an all-round sportsman; he was a top rugby player for Palmerston North Boys' High School, before deciding to give up rugby for cricket. Heaphy was only 19 when he earned his first CD professional contract and now at 23, he's knocking hard on the doors of the New Zealand selectors. "Obviously New Zealand's a big, big rugby country," Heaphy said. "So I played rugby all growing up, all the way through high school and stuff. And then when I got to about 17-18 kind of had to make a decision to play rugby or cricket and started to go down the cricket side. I probably felt I just liked cricket a lot more." Heaphy dreams of playing cricket for New Zealand, especially in the longest format, but doesn't want to put too much pressure on himself right now. "Yeah, I guess it is always going to be in the back of your mind," Heaphy said. "I guess it's something from a young age that I've always wanted to do. Especially playing Test cricket would be amazing. But in saying that, I'm trying to just concentrate on what I can do and how I'm going to get better. And when it does happen, or if it does happen, that'd be amazing." Heaphy is also excited about the prospect of featuring in the NZ20, which is set to kick off in December 2027, and mingling with overseas stars. "It'd be awesome if it came in at some point," Heaphy said. "And to be able to see just rub shoulders with some top overseas players as well, hopefully. And the Black Caps would be obviously awesome and hopefully develop young guys and develop players in New Zealand." New Zealand's system tends to fast-track bowlers who show sparks of promise and run the rule over batters for multiple seasons in domestic cricket before assessing their readiness for international cricket. For instance, Canterbury's run machine Rhys Mariu, who averages over 50 in first-class cricket after 29 matches is yet to make his Test debut. Mitchell himself toiled away in domestic cricket for around eight years before breaking into the New Zealand side. There's no room in the first-choice batting line-up right now, but it's going to be hard for the selectors to ignore Heaphy's case, especially if he produces another bumper domestic season.