Last week in the Plunket Shield we had a group of wannabes plop back into domestic cricket and we only need to look at Tom Latham's antics to catch the vibe of these wannabes. With all the Blackcaps back playing Plunket Shield cricket, there were re-shuffles all over the domestic circuit to accommodate the Blackcaps and I guess youz want to know how those Blackcaps went and what they did in the glorious Plunket Shield.

Here's a run down of their performances, which is solely based on those who were named in the Test squad to face West Indies. I haven't included Jeet Raval and Neil Wagner as they are true-blue Plunket Shield homies having played the entire first stanza thus far and have steadily been going about their business, not to any extraordinary level though. Wagner continues to show that he's Aotearoa's best bowler with another consistent Plunket Shield campaign; 17w @ 25.52avg/2.76rpo, 6th in wickets, as the leading figure in a young Otago seam attack (yes, Wagner's Aotearoa's best as he dominates all domestic cricket and Test cricket).

Raval has been far less solid than Wagner, hitting 195 runs in 8 innings @ 24.37avg and oddly enough, Auckland's resurgent form hasn't involved any great contribution from Raval; his lone notable score of 73 came in their big loss to Wellington in round one. Raval has seen off the new-ball well in recent wins though without scoring big runs, doing his job for the team.

Tom Latham

Scores: 16, 8.

Other than getting a bit too big for his boots, Latham got caught behind in both innings; off the front foot and off the back foot. Stroppy bugger.

Kane Williamson

Scores: 45, 35.

Reasonably mediocre return for Williamson, which is better than your average. Williamson got starts in either innings, yet still somehow found a way to edge one to Auckland keeper Ben Horne and then mis-time a pull-shot.

Ross Taylor

Scores: 34, 90.

Like Williamson, Taylor slotted in at his standard batting spot and got decent starts in either innings. Taylor appeared to be out-done by Jacob Duffy's movement into Taylor as his first dismissal (can't tell for sure) saw Taylor appear to inside-edge a ball on to his pads that ballooned up for a catch at gully. Then Taylor was bowled by that movement into Taylor, after Taylor had played a key knock in helping Central Districts get close to the target they were chasing.

Henry Nicholls

Scores: 13, 21.

Logan van Beek had his former Canterbury homie Nicholls caught-behind in both innings, first was a swash-bucklin' drive outside off that Nicholls edged and then van Beek got Nicholls jumping. I dunno about youz, but I find it weird for a Blackcaps batsman to playing in such fashion on a pitch that was obviously difficult to bat on, especially against a firing Wellington bowling attack; knuckle down bruh and lead.

BJ Watling

Scores: 5, 25.

After a few weeks out for Northern Districts, Watling was shifted up to open and didn't do a whole lot besides facing 93 balls for that 25. It's hard to judge Watling from his work as an opener and he was dismissed in near-identical fashion to Williamson in either innings.

Mitchel Santner

Scores: 55, 53.

Wickets: 0 in 7 overs @ 2.71rpo.

The big mover, shaker, milkshake maker was Santner and all the folks throughout Aotearoa who spew at the thought of Santner the all-rounder would have had a interesting few days last week. Santner was moved up to #4 in ND's batting line up and responded gloriously with ND's highest score in either innings, facing over 100 balls in either innings and being dismissed caught-behind in either innings. Both dismissals had Santner playing a forward prod - not a certified forward defence - and a bit of seam movement away from him caught the outside edge.

Santner wasn't required to ball much on the seaming deck and although he scored runs, this shouldn't result in any crazy Blackcaps antics. He'll still bat after Watling, although he may have sealed a spot ahead of Colin de Grandhomme.

Colin de Grandhomme

Scores: 50.

Wickets: 1 in 12 overs @ 2.42rpo, 3 in 23 overs @ 2rpo.

But CDG scored runs as well! Most importantly CDG scored at a smidge under 50sr which is a nice example of CDG showcasing his all-round batting talents, he did so by only hitting three boundaries and did so on a pitch that wasn't helping the batsmen; CDG adjusted to the situation. With the ball, CDG was as expected and opened the bowling in either innings, getting some key wickets in the second innings as he sent Santner back to the sheds as well as the in-form Anton Devcich, with ND setting Auckland a target.

Tim Southee

Wickets: 3 in 24 overs @ 4.04rpo, 0 in 5 overs @ 2.20rpo.

Can't really say too much about Southee, especially when Trent Boult's performance was also ho-hum.

Trent Boult

Wickets 1 in 24 overs @ 3.04rpo, 1 in 8 overs @ 4.75rpo.

Auckland were only chasing 72 in the second innings for victory (and Martin Guptill hit 52 off 49 balls to seal the win), so it's all about the first innings here. Aotearoa's premier seamers were both up-staged by Scott Kuggeleijn's 5-for and 3 of Southee/Boult's 4 first innings wickets were in Auckland's last five batsmen; CDG, Ben Horne, Danru Ferns. Do yourselves a favour though and don't get dramatic.

Matt Henry

Wickets: 2 in 19 overs @ 3.11rpo, 1 in 8.2 overs @ 5.52rpo.

On paper, Henry was the best seamer in this game and Henry's low key trying to play his way into this Blackcaps Test team, which could have seen him replicated Hamish Bennett, Logan van Beek or even Henry Shipley. Instead, Henry was put in the shade by those three and his highlight was dismissing Luke Woodcock in either innings with some lovely deliveries.

From all of that, the only major funky note I have revolves around the #5 batting spot. I reckon Nicholls will get the gig, however knowing what I know about the Blackcaps decision-makers, I certainly wouldn't sleep on Watling sneaking into #5, with Santner #6 and CDG #7. There are a few different routes to take from that thought as Aotearoa could then play their full seam attack (Southee, Boult, Wagner, Henry), or they could slide the best-performing seamer from the Aotearoa A group in to see what they've got (Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Scott Kuggeleijn).

Or, Aotearoa could squeeze in Todd Astle (Ish Sodhi's been shafted), or even give George Worker a chance somewhere. There is also the possibility that Martin Guptill could play himself into that #5 spot if he dominates with Aotearoa A, the same could be said about Tom Bruce.

Basically: Guptill and Bruce can lay down a challenge to Nicholls, while a bowler (Henry or from Aotearoa A) could demand a look in with Santner and CDG moving up.

And Neil Broom has earned Aotearoa A selection by scoring 167 runs in 6 innins @ 27.83avg this season.

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Peace and love 27.