You know the Niche Cache is all about the positive vibrations, so while it's a bit silly that we only get four Tests this summer, there is a glorious silver lining to this cloud of stupidity. A lack of Tests means a lack of international cricket for BJ Watling, Neil Wagner and Jeet Raval, which then means that these three lads get to play a whole lot of Plunket Shield cricket. I'm of the belief that the best cricketers play Test cricket well - it's harder to be a good Test player than it is to be a good ODI/T20 player - and that simply means that us kiwi cricket fans and the domestic circuit are treated to having three of Aotearoa's best cricketers kickin' it with the battlers for a consistent period of time.

Watling is undisputedly the best wicket-keeper/batsman in Aotearoa and I'd give him the nod in an overall top-three kiwi batsmen (behind Kane and Rossco). Wagner is the best kiwi bowler in my heart, although Trent Boult's obviously numero tahi and Raval is a Test opener for Aotearoa, so it's nothing but a luxury to have a Test opener doing his job in the Plunket Shield. Watling's top-three batsmen and the best batsman with his feet in Aotearoa right now, Wagner is a smidge behind Boult and he's the best bowler in Aotearoa and Raval would sit behind Watling and Tom Latham; still top-five.

This lads are the reason why I wanted to add this extra splash of funk to Domestic Cricket Daily as they waltz into the Aotearoa Test team, but their quality forces them to slug bless the Plunket Shield with their presence. Raval is in the funkiest position as he's a veteran in a young Auckland Aces team that not only need a wise head in their dressing room, they need Raval to execute his job as an opener and be their best batsman.

Openers in four-day/Test cricket get judged on the number of runs too often and people would rather concern themselves with individual milestones like 50s and hundies, instead of understanding the job; see off the new-ball and lay a platform. The Blackcaps need Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor coming to the crease after at least 20 overs so their job is that little bit easier, while Auckland's youngsters need all the help they can get. 

Raval scored 3 off 20 balls in Auckland's first innings which was nightmare, but Raval's knock was an example of his role. In the second dig, Raval scored 73 which is lovely but the key here is that Raval faced 201 balls and I'd go all-in on saying that Raval's marker is 200 balls faced.

From 200 balls, Raval scores runs and his boundaries came when Wellington's bowlers dropped short, drifted into his pads or served up the juice outside off-stump for Raval to smoke through the covers; bad deliveries.

Everything Raval does is based around defending, leaving and forcing the bowler to lose patience or make a mistake and it's righteous.

I've harped on about Wagner a fair bit recently, so there's not much else to say on him specifically. Wagner's situation is vastly different to nearly all other domestic bowlers because Wagner's already a gun, whereas other bowlers are merely on the fringes and are trying to break into the Blackcaps; they haven't reached level one and Wagner's clocked the game. Scott Kuggeleijn and Lockie Ferguson are the obvious blokes here as they were part of Aotearoa A in India, I'm also interested in Jacob Duffy for Otago who picked up 3 wickets in 29 overs @ 3.03rpo.

All of Duffy's wickets came in his first innings, although this didn't ruin his rpo or average (29.33) overall. He did concede 4.57rpo in the second dig, but I'm intrigued because he's back in action for Otago and he's shown that he can do damage at this level, so how will he develop over the course of the season? 

Ferguson can't really be judged on Auckland's effort against Wellington. He definitely featured in getting smoked by Michael Papps and Luke Woodcock, but I'll give him a pass and see how he responds next round.

In his last 10 games, Kuggeleijn has played two Plunket Shield games in Aotearoa, three 50-over games in Ireland and five games (two four-dayers, three 50-over) in India. Kuggeleijn has taken wickets in every single innings and of the 12 innings bowled, Kuggeleijn has taken 2+ wickets in nine innings. What that tells me is that he guzzles wickets and he's done so in a variety of different conditions - keep in mind that Kuggeleijn has been a top-three wicket-taker in domestic cricket for a few seasons now.

Kuggeleijn took 3w in 15 overs @ 4.46rpo and 1w in 14 overs @ 3.78rpo to start the Plunket Shield. Just like Ajaz Patel got his 40+ wicket chase off to a great start, Kuggeleijn has started this season in the same fashion as previous seasons.

Finally, my head is in a spin about this wicket-keeping group and I could write an essay on all the funk permeating from Watling, Tim Seifert and Tom Blundell. This is clouded by the fact that Tom Latham and Glen Phillips are capable of doing this job as well and in the ODI team, I fully understand the balance offered by having Latham/Phillips as the wicket-keeper batsman.

What's if Seifert and/or Blundell keep scoring nek-level runs though?

Blundell hit 42* off 44 balls for Wellington and continues to impress in Plunket Shield cricket, while Seifert opened the innings for Northern Districts and hit a 77. ND have solved their own mini w-k conundrum by understandably giving the gloves to Watling, while picking Seifert solely as an opening batsman; Seifert is good enough to be selected as an opening bat, just as Watling is and perhaps Blundell is as well.

Neither Latham or Phillips will take over from Watling in Test cricket when he's finished #Facts. 

That job will go to either Seifert or Blundell, but as long as Seifert is scoring runs as an opening batsman, then he'll be demanding further attention solely as a batsman. Essentially, we could have a situation where all these blokes are capable of earning selection as batsmen. Aotearoa has plenty of w-k options, so I love what ND have done - they've been forced to with Watling being a legend - in giving Seifert a chance to shine as a batsman. 

Over time, someone will emerge as the best option. Well, that's the most likeliest scenario but I'm warning y'all to be prepared for a time when Watling, Latham, Seifert, Blundell and Phillips are all scoring runs. If they're scoring runs, they deserve a crack solely as a batsman and that will only bolsters Aotearoa's batting depth.

Peace and love 27.

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