The time has come. I’ve been anticipating this since the first signs of a demolition of the Australians appeared a few weeks ago. Why? Because we’ve just witnessed what could happen, now we’re going in, facing it head on. It’s a great opportunity to see what our test squad is made of in what looks to be the complete opposite of a Eden Park belter or a seaming, swinging Wellington day at the Basin.

That’s the beauty of international cricket, unlike rugby, football, rugby league, basketball, netball, darts ... pretty much every sport, cricket is played in totally different conditions that usually favour the home side. You are only the best test playing nation if you can win test’s around the world. That means having the individual skills and attitude to be good in foreign conditions as well as the right team environment, atmosphere, culture all that stuff. Australia despite being a top 3 test nation ((in my opinion) hmm South Africa, Australia and India???) clearly didn’t have the right mix or complete combination of those factors.

Do we? I don’t know. One thing we definitely know is that we have long struggled against spin. Not a great start but the signs are encouraging and you can safely assume that if we know that they’ve struggled against the turners and tweakers, they will know. They’re the cricketing professionals so it’s their job to know.

Mention the Niche Cache and get 20% off most cricket gear at Sports First

I’m still unsure about the all rounders. I said it could be possible to go without both, pretty drastic but it’s definitely a possibility. Corey Anderson threw poo on my argument which was based on both he and Jimmy Neesham being out of form, nice Cozza. It makes sense given that Anderson has recently experienced the joys of the sub-continent in a lean IPL. While he may not have knocked too many runs, you could safely assume that he would have learned a fair bit. The joys of the IPL, tough conditions for our players and a wealth of knowledge in the changing rooms. Not so bad huh?

Who knows what Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum will do but hey, all you can do is accept their reasons and support them. We know that Tim Southee and Trent Boult will be locked in. Don’t forget about pace bowling, I certainly did. Pakistan’s Imran Khan and Rahat Ali were good with all the skills and Peter Siddle re-discovered some strength and as consistently up at 140km/h so there is something for guys who put in the effort. While they might not get the props, keep an eye on Southee and Boult. They’re our best and they’ll need to display their full arsenal of skills and tricks, along with pace and bounce if they bend their backs.

I can’t see us coming out and smashing Pakistan, it’ll be tough. Which is why I’m so excited, best case scenario we somehow win 2 and Pakistan either win or there’s a draw. Worst case we loose 3-0 and look terrible.