Ah the spinners. I've pondered long and hard about the BLACKCAPS' spinners this summer as we've been taken on a bit of a journey. Starting with Mark Craig, seeing Mitchell Santner emerge, enjoying the limited overs work of Ish Sodhi and finishing with Craig, it's been a ride that has confused, disappointed and provided a bit of hope as well.

Leading the positivity and good vibes with regards to the BLACKCAPS' spinning situation is that there are two young spinners leading the charge. Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi both spent much of their BLACKCAPS summer in coloured clothing, with Sodhi emerging as a dangerous limited overs threat against batsmen keen to attack and well, Santner is just perfectly suited to limited overs cricket but also looked good in the three Tests we saw him in this summer.

We didn't see enough of either Santner or Sodhi in Tests however this summer with Santner falling victim ahead of the return leg of the Australia Test series and Sodhi falling out of favour in Tests. Sodhi played his last Test in Sharjah against Pakistan back in November 2014 and was instead used in limited overs cricket this summer, despite taking 22 Plunket Shield wickets at an avearge of 29.22 this season which puts him second on the leading wicket-taker list for Plunket Shield cricket.

With Santner not selected or injured and Sodhi now apparently more of a limited overs bowler, Mark Craig was given the ball in four of the five Tests against Australia. I've got big questions regarding Craig's future as the BLACKCAPS' No.1 spinner, although a Craig fan would counter with the fact that Craig has taken more than one wicket in his past seven Tests (5, 2, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2). That's nice but watching Craig bowl as the best spinner in our ranks is incredibly frustrating as he is capable of a wicket taking delivery every over, amongst deliveries that can easily dispatched to the boundary.

Craig - our No.1 Test spinner - has a Test bowling average of 45.56. In fact, Craig averages above 40 with the ball in Tests, First Class, List A and domestic T20 cricket. 

I'm not overly keen on a bowler who averages over 40 in every format he plays while running through the averages of Sodhi and Santner paints a different, yet also worrying picture. Sodhi and Santner's averages are saved by T20 cricket with Sodhi averaging 21 in T20Is and 27.18 in domestic T20 cricket while Santner averages 14.57 and 25.90. 

Sodhi averages 46.33 in ODIs and 31.80 in List A cricket, Santner averages 34.60 and 29.40.

That's nice, however Sodhi averages 52.81 in Test cricket and 43.97 in First Class cricket. Santner averages 31 and 52.64 which means our two up and coming spinners reflect a trend that has been explored in my recent work regarding our batsmen and bowlers. Our spin bowlers, especially the two youngsters, are more potent in limited overs cricket and this leaves the door open for Craig to be selected.

Besides Santner's stingey economy rate in Tests (2.72 rpo), it's hard to ignore that our spinners either struggle with their patience and control, are apparently better suited to limited overs cricket or they are still finding their feet at international cricket. Most importantly though, we don't have a spinner in that trio that is putting freakish numbers on the board and this BLACKCAPS team is in a stage at the moment where they are still trying to figure out their spinning situation. This differs greatly to other Test teams around the world who have a spinner who is a locked in selection for each Test; Moeen Ali, Ravi Ashwin, Nathan Lyon, Yasir Shah and Rangana Herath.

The BLACKCAPS are in a similar position to South Africa, which sets up their tour to South Africa later this year nicely. South Africa have relied on leggy Imran Tahir for a while but also have off-spinner Dane Piedt who played against England, along with allrounder Dean Elgar. 

Santner is our No.1 Test spinner in my books and his stats reflect that, which made his injury such a bummer as we were robbed of seeing him on home turf against Australia. A BLACKCAPS team with Santner batting in the middle/lower-order and bowling 20+ overs of left-arm spin is always going to be nicely balanced. Santner's presence as an allrounder allows the BLACKCAPS to play with another spinner or seamer depending on conditions and the prospect of seeing Santner and Sodhi in the same BLACKCAPS team is mouth-watering. 

Is the future offered by that combination better than Craig's experience? 

I haven't really seen enough from Craig that screams at me, demanding that he be the No.1 spinner for the next five years. Craig does get the ball to turn, he'll flight it up, get some dip and rip them off the pitch, just not frequently enough. The opportunity to give Sodhi and Santner some time to further their craft in the international arena now takes precedence over Craig's stop-gap selection.

This isn't the best situation for the BLACKCAPS to find themselves in. Having three spinners who all average over 40 in First Class cricket with the ball is never a good situation; these three should be dominating the domestic scene. However, we do have three spinners who are in the mix and this means that if you aren't performing, then you will be swiftly overtaken by someone who is. 

What we need now is for a spinner to stand up and make that Test spot his own. I don't really care who it is as the honours simply go to the best bloke, just please, someone, make this BLACKCAPS Test spinner spot your own.