Craig Cachopa negotiated an early release from his contract at Sussex for what the club called "personal reasons" at the end of the 2016 season and announced that he would consider whether to go full circle and qualify for New Zealand. Cachopa was enticed to England in 2014 by Luke Wright, now Sussex's captain, when he was playing in New Zealand. He was born in South Africa but qualifies as a non-overseas signing in England as he holds a Portuguese passport. After three seasons in county cricket, however, in which his success was modest, he could chose to explore links with New Zealand, where he was a former U-19 national captain, saying that, at 24, he wanted to "try to achieve some of my childhood dreams." Sussex's coach Mark Davis termed him "an immensely talented cricketer who has yet to reach his potential." We wish him great success in whatever he decides to pursue in the future."

A middle-order batsman born in South Africa, Craig Cachopa was named as New Zealand's captain for the Under-19 World Cup in 2010. He comes from a strong cricketing family: his elder brother Carl has played first-class cricket for Auckland and another brother Bradley has also represented New Zealand Under-19s. He made his debut for Wellington in 2012 before moving to Auckland.

ESPNcricinfo staff