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With the BlackCaps cricket season kicking off today, we thought we’d take a closer look at what’s to come in what is sure to be an exciting summer of cricket for our national side. We’ve got the full works from T20 in Dubai to test cricket on Boxing Day in Christchurch. Cheehooo.

To kick of the summer we have the Proteas returning to our shores in what will no doubt be a short but thrilling 3 match ODI series. The South African side will come prepared and very strong as usual. Although the Blackcaps one day form over the last 12 months has been more than credible beating the likes of India and the West Indies at home and Bangladesh over there, do not by any means write of the Blackcaps in this up-coming series as I really do believe they have a strong chance in coming out with a series win at the end of it.

After the South African series the boys head to the U.A.E for a full series against Pakistan playing them in 3 test matches to start off with, followed by 2 T20s and 5 ODI matches in what is sure to be a cracking series for our lads who I presume not many of them would have had much or any experience in the U.A.E. It’ll be the first hit out for our test team for this summer over there, as expected there will be a few different faces from our limited overs sides but not a hell of a lot, with potential for our 2 up and coming spinners Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi to really show the country what they can really bring to the table. Also for someone to really push for an opening batting position that we are still trying to find someone to cement their spot there.

Only 7 days after arriving home from the U.A.E the boys will take on Sri Lanka on Boxing Day at the beautifully revamped Hagley Oval in Christchurch. To have International cricket back in Christchurch is going to be a huge boost for the city and to have a boxing day test will make it even better. No doubt this match will definitely rake in the crowds over this holiday break after that we have one more test against the Sri Lankans followed by a whopping 7 ODI matches. This is going to be a treat for our fans as we all know how much we love going to a good old ODI in the summer. This series will be quickly followed by 2 ODI matches against Pakistan in Wellington and Napier respectively.

And lastly, the big one. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 being hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Our lads will definitely be looking much further ahead than round robins where we take on Sri Lanka, Scotland, England, Australia , Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Blackcaps will surely be looking to keep the home fans happy and make it through to the final stages of the tournament and possibly take it out on home soil which would be a huge achievement for the team.

The Pigeon