Good enough for the Thunder but not the Blackcaps.

In merely scratching the surface of the Blackcaps T20 squad to face Bangladesh, you'll find plenty of good vibes stemming from the selections of Central Districts pair Tom Bruce and Ben Wheeler. Both are more than worthy of their selections in the national T20 team after impressive performances in the Super Smash, although when you push past these two, you'll find another round of rather confusing selections.

This wouldn't be enough for me to write about if it was the first instance of the Blackcaps selectors making a few weird moves at the selection table, that this has been happening ever since Brendon McCullum left the Blackcaps though is kinda worrisome. From Ish Sodhi and Henry Nicholls getting the cut in India for two players who have no long-term Test future, to Gavin Larsen hailing a 'rebuilding' Blackcaps team only to select Neil Broom in the ODI team; there's not a whole lot of clarity here.

Take Bruce for example, who has smashed his way into the mainstream with his powerful hitting in domestic T20 cricket. Everyone, from Larsen to the silly media jokers, will tell you that Bruce is second to Mahela Jayawardene in sixes hit during the Super Smash but no one is telling y'all that Bruce also averages 48.85 in Plunket Shield cricket with three half-centuries and a century in four games/seven innings'.

No one's telling y'all that Bruce has a career First-Class average of 46.51, with 15 scores over 50 in 38 innings' ... or that Bruce's last four Plunket Shield innings' look like this; 83, 55, 4, 115.

The Blackcaps ODI team is apparently rebuilding, which in theory would have been the perfect opportunity to give Bruce a shot at the No.4 spot that will soon become vacant when Ross Taylor retires within the next five years. Instead, Broom was selected and Broom's in a similar stage of his career to Taylor; so are we really rebuilding or are we just fluffin' around?

Let's take a geeze at Henry Nicholls, who has been left out of the Blackcaps T20 squad. Who has the best average in the Super Smash? Mr Nicholls.

Jayawardene has the most runs, Bruce is second to Jayawardene in runs and sixes, but it's Nicholls' average of 81.66 that has him as perhaps the best batsman in the competition. Nicholls is striking at a very impressive 151.23sr, which isn't something that we associated with the crafty left-hander and in six innings', Nicholls has scores of; 39*, 66*, 67*, 20, 52, 1.

Corey Anderson is always going to be selected for the Blackcaps if he's healthy because we've all seen what he is capable of in the international arena. I'm comfortable with this, although it's important to point out that if Anderson is being selected solely as a batsman, there are three young batsmen (excluding Jayawardene) with more runs and better strike-rates than Anderson in Bruce, Nicholls and Auckland's Mark Chapman.

This would have also been the perfect time to give a young wicket-keeper an opportunity to embed himself in the Blackcaps set up and get a cheeky taste of what it's all about. Luke Ronchi's the same as Anderson in that I have nothing against him being selected and he's the best limited overs wicket-keeper/batsman we have in Aotearoa, but what's the end goal that the Blackcaps selectors are chasing?

Auckland's Glenn Phillips is an exciting prospect with the bat and he's got the most runs of any wicket-keeper in the Super Smash. Phillips' is however probably the weakest keeper of them all and Tom Blundell was already at the front of the que after earning selection in a Aotearoa XI that was due to face Pakistan. Blundell's averaging 36.50 in the Super Smash at a strike-rate of 135.18, which is pretty damn handy if you ask me and I don't think many folk would have an issue with Blundell getting a run with the future in mind.

All of this centres around the importance of international T20 cricket and I view international T20 cricket as a meaningless cash machine.

I love franchise T20 cricket and a T20 World Cup every few years, that stuff is exciting and gets me going. International T20 cricket combined with the context of the very weird spot that this Blackcaps team sits in where they are on the brink of ushering in a new wave of young talent, should result in a very fresh-faced kiwi T20 team. Use these games as a testing ground for young talent and if you are talking it up about 'rebuilding' then actually rebuild something; there's no reason for Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Luke Ronchi/BJ Watling to play international T20 cricket (unless they're desperate for the T20 match payments).

How about this Blackcaps T20 squad...

Martin Guptill (c?), Colin Munro, Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson (bowling), Tom Blundell, Tom Bruce, Henry Nicholls, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Mark Chapman, Ben Wheeler.

A few more confusing notes...

Lockie Ferguson's worst bowling stats are in T20 cricket. He averages 57.42 and concedes 8.37rpo, compared to 31.35avg/6.35rpo (List-A) and 25.09avg/3.31rpo (FC), so it makes sense to select Ferguson in his worst format right?

Neil Wagner's selection would go against my policy of using meaningless international T20 games to give younger bowlers experience, but to show y'all the confusing landscape; Wagner has 8 wickets @ 25.25avg/7.48rpo and averages 25.64 in domestic T20 cricket along with 26.65 in List-A cricket. Yet Wagner is yet to be sighted in coloured clothing for Aotearoa.

What about Seth Rance and Brent Arnel? Again, these two are older blokes but are the best kiwi seamers in the Super Smash with Arnel leading all wicket-takers (12 @20avg/8.57rpo) and Rance taking 9 wickets @ 26.77avg/9.38rpo.

Finally and perhaps the most telling, put yourselves in the boots of our leggies Ish Sodhi and Todd Astle.

If you're in Astle's bowling boots, you have taken 6 wickets @ 27.33avg/7.34rpo in the Super Smash and you own the best bowling average of any spinner in the Plunket Shield (18.07). You got selected in the Blackcaps T20 team last summer, despite doing your best work in the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy, basically set up to fail and then you don't get a run in Australia recently. Now you are watching Sodhi get selected as the T20 leggy, despite putting Sodhi in the shade thus far with your 6 wickets/27.33avg/7.34rpo far superior than Sodhi's 3 wickets/52.66avg/8.31rpo.

Granted, Sodhi has been super unlucky in the Super Smash and has a international T20 average of 15.37, so put yourself in Sodhi's boots now. You got cut from the Blackcaps Test team in India for an older offie, despite the prospect of embarking on a massive learning curve in a series that the Blackcaps were never going to win. You've been consigned to only playing Test cricket in spin-friendly conditions despite learning how to bowl leg-spin in Aotearoa, where bounce is your weapon and you have been yo-yo'ed in and out of the Blackcaps ODI team.

Neither Astle or Sodhi has been given any time to settle into international cricket and after a quick journey in their bowling boots, you could be forgiven for lacking any sort of confidence and just generally confused about your strengths, weaknesses and your role within the Blackcaps group.

Everything is all a bit confusing now folks. A few weeks ago I thought I had found clarity when I wrote about the trend of selecting veterans, which was fine until the line about the Blackcaps rebuilding came out. I would love the Blackcaps to rebuild and roll deep with a group of 20 cricketers, led by the experienced core of Taylor, Williamson, Southee, Boult, Watling and Wagner.

There's no rebuilding here and with a hotch-potch T20 team, there doesn't appear to be any sort of plan in place either.