I've been weary of Pakistan for a while. Anytime they travel to New Zealand, the best opportunity for kiwis to get a look at them, they look like fish out of water in all aspects of the game. But something changed a few years ago - they looked to tidy a few things up in and around the team, moved closer to hosting games in Pakistan (and got there) and in the mean time they have found a great home in the United Arab Emirates. That came to be around the same time that a crop of talented youngsters began to creep in to the national team under the guidance of some rugged veterans.

Watching them play against Australia shows how they have come over the past 5 years. I'm slightly scared, this Pakistan team know exactly how to play in their conditions and have nearly all the bases covered.

The glorious thing about the Black Caps tour of the U.A.E is that it's a proper cricket tour. 3 test matches, 5 ODI's and 2 T20's which I'm loving despite the complete lack of relevance it has in terms of the World Cup. The most exciting aspect of the Black Caps is the test team and this battle that they're about to enter will be awesome to watch, but a huge challenge - they go hand in hand. The Black Caps have traditionally struggled against spin and Pakistan have found two handy spinners to take the baton from Saeed Ajamal - Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah.

The Black Caps batsmen will be up against it that's for sure. Kane Williamson is the key, he is our best player of spin and a master of using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball. So too Ross Taylor who is in some doubt with that calf niggle, if Taylor's not there then I see some serious holes in our batting line up especially against spin. There isn't a whole lot of batting cover, I expect Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham to open, Prince Kane-o at 3 and with no Taylor they will be forced to play either Jimmy Neesham and/or Corey Anderson.

The Pakistani's boast a decent pace attack as well. Imran Khan is a right arm bowler who touches 140km/h and moves the new ball while Rahat Ali is a tidy left armer who swings it both ways. Despite the reliance on spin, both Khan and Ali will ask questions of our batsmen and if both our openers fall early, then we could be up shit's creek. The positive is that all our batsmen like to attack so they'll be keen to be the dominant force. I don't trust Brendon McCullum to get consistent runs - if he gets them, he gets them, if not so be it. But that viewpoint relies heavily on Williamson and Taylor, two batsmen who can play spin well off the front foot and the back foot. If they don't score, then the pressure shifts to our other batsmen who aren't as experienced in this test match cauldron. Trust me, this will be a cauldron with chirping Pakistani's and skillful bowlers.

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The inclusion of Doug Bracewell makes things very interesting. He's coming off of a fine all round performance in the Plunket Shield and provides some serious competition for Anderson and Neesham. Bracewell's a better bowler than both of them and can hold his own with the bat. I expect Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Ish Sodhi to be the main points of the attack. Mark Craig has to be in the mix which leaves us in a wee situation. My top 6 = Rutherford, Latham, Williamson, Taylor, McCullum, Watling. That leaves 5 spots, I'm happy to have a slightly longer tail with Southee, Boult, Wagner, Sodhi and Craig as our bowlers. Not much room for Neesham, Anderson and Bracewell.

I like Wagner because these pitches should suit him. He'll trundle in all day, he'll reverse it (which will happen) and he can execute a variety of plans when others would be just looking to tie things up - short balls, reversing yorkers, around/over the wicket.

Steve Smith looked the best spinner for the Aussies and I think the Black Caps need to play two spinners. Sodhi should get plenty of turn and has more variations than the Aussie spin attack combined. They only issue would be that the pitches don't offer much bounce which is a tool in Sodhi's tool belt. Craig and Sodhi are a great tandem, Craig offers a solid spin option and with Pakistan's batting line up being mostly right handers, the spinners can attack. Sodhi can nick batsmen out with his leggie or attack the stumps with a flipper or wrongun' while Craig can attack the stumps and get a few to slide on. The issue is how good the Pakistani's are at playing spin. Expect to see a lot of sweep shots to anything full and sublime cuts to anything short. Both Craig and Sodhi can spin the ball, but how they command their lengths will be the key.

With the lack of batting depth, having two certified all rounders (Neesham and Anderson) and another keeper in Luke Ronchi in the mix helps. We could see Neesham up the order, we could see Watling and Ronchi both playing thanks to being good with the willow. Who knows, but the most solid line up and a line up that puts our batsmen under pressure to perform includes Southee, Boult, Wagner, Sodhi and Craig.

Test match cricket. This series has me sweating and tingling, it's a huge test for our lads in their whites on all fronts. The conditions, their opposition and the pitches. As we continue to follow our Black Caps on their journey to the best test nation in the world, this is step up from previous challenges. A summer at home? That's easy. A series in the West Indies? That's away from home but not crazy intense cricket. An in form Pakistan side in their/U.A.E conditions? Bring it on.