The New Zealand national cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 New Zealand had to wait until 1956, more than 26 years, for its first Test victory, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland. They played their first ODI in the 1972–73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch.

The current Test, One-day and Twenty20 captain is Kane Williamson, who replaced Brendon McCullum who announced his retirement in late December 2015. The national team is organised by New Zealand Cricket.

The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Black Caps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team.Official New Zealand Cricket sources typeset the nickname as BLACKCAPS. This is one of many national team nicknames related to the All Blacks.

As of 12 March 2019, New Zealand have played 1309 Internationals, winning 496, losing 594, tying 11 and drawing 165 matches while 43 matches ended yielding no result. The team is ranked 2nd in Tests, 3rd in ODIs and 6th in T20Is by the ICC.[10] New Zealand defeated South Africa in the semi final of Cricket World Cup 2015 which was their first win in the a world cup semi final and hence they made their maiden appearance in a World Cup Final.