A couple of weeks ago, after Jimmy Neesham's lone Ford Trophy appearance, I highlighted a rather concerning trend for someone who should sit in the 'Domestic Bully Bucket'. Neesham's lack of productivity was juxtaposed by yours truly against Neil Broom who had earned a brief Blackcaps Battlers call up, despite putting down similar numbers to Neesham and as Neesham's woes have continued; let's juxtapose him against Anaru Kitchen.

Neesham has, well, he's kinda got worse as the season has rolled on, although his Super Smash work isn't that much worse than Kitchen's. In fact, it's better than Kitchen's run-scoring as Neesham and Kitchen have both scored 18 runs in 3inns with Neesham scoring at 128.58sr and Kitchen plodding along 100sr. 

Here I am updating youz on Neesham's lean spell and he's got the same number of runs with a better strike-rate than the bloke who got a Blackcaps Battlers promotion. 

And for those who want to talk about Kitchen's tweakers that have helped him earn the promotion; Kitchen has 1w @ 12.83rpo and Neesham has 5w @ 11.27rpo.

I've already harped on about how weird the Kitchen selection was, it's just that if I'm going to explore how Neesham has fallen off a cricketing cliff, it's just as important to highlight players in a similar position to him who are enjoying the opposite fortunes. Same as the Broom situation; two players doing similar things, vastly different outcome. 

So if anyone wants to come at you chatting shit about Neesham's woes, go back at them with how loco it is that other players are doing just as bad as Neesham and enjoying the fruits of their labour, or lack of labour.

Despite getting a bunch of starts in Plunket Shield, Neesham was unable to register a notable score in four games. 187 runs @ 26.71avg in 8inns isn't terrible, not when Tom Blundell also didn't put up a notable score other than a 43* in his 182 runs (6inns) or when compared to Jeet Raval's 195 runs in 8inns @ 24.37. Those are not 'go back and dominate domestic cricket' numbers for Neesham, yet they also are not numbers that suggest a woeful patch of form and Neesham had five 20+ scores in that period; he got starts, fair play.

With a game against West Indians, came a change in fortune for Neesham and not the change that he was hoping for. Instead of consistently passing 10 runs most innings, Neesham then had four straight innings in which he scored less than 10 runs; 0 in the WI game, 2 in the first Ford Trophy game and then 8 and 0 in Super Smash. This was followed by a nice round 10 in the latest Super Smash game.

I don't care for Neesham's bowling numbers during this phase because A) they are not 'dominant' and B) Neesham's bowling is highly unlikely to earn him a Battlers call up, it's his batting that he will mainly be judged on. This is a bloke who has a couple Test hundies, who averages 33.76 in Test cricket and Neesham's First-Class average of 31.75 means that his best work comes in long-form cricket (ODI average of 27.03, List-A 28.72avg). Neesham's best work has come in Test cricket, the hardest format to play and here he is, up to his neck in a domestic slump.

There are few wrinkles to Neesham's slump that offer a funky twist, led by the lack of Test cricket the Battlers are playing. That's a nice coincidence for Neesham and if he can emerge from this slump as a better cricketer, it wouldn't have had an overly negative impact on his Test career as there's been little Test cricket - assuming Neesham can get back into the Test mix. I mean, if there's any time you wouldn't be too fussed about missing out on Test selections, it's right now. 

This has also coincided with the absence of Corey Anderson and it's weird how their paths are inter-twined. Anderson is out injured and with such reoccurring injuries, there's every possibility that Anderson struggles to be the international cricketer that his potential suggests he could be; Anderson's dealing with repeated back injuries, not a broken finger then a sprained ankle then a torn calf muscle. 

There are levels to this shit and unfortunately Anderson has gone nek-level with his injuries, just as Neesham has gone nek-level in his slump. One isn't establishing themselves as international cricketers while the other is out of form or injured, they are suffering the wrath of the cricketing gods together. That in the very least is kinda cute.

I can't say that Neesham and Anderson have a Blackcaps future, they'll have to earn that and there's every chance that they don't play another Blackcaps Test or ODI again. At their best, I like what they offer and such adversity as Neesham is going through right now is beneficial to any athlete or person in general; ultimately I think Neesham will figure it out and come back better, some how, some way.

But right now, your mind is clouded by Blackcaps Battlers dominance in Aotearoa so I understand how it's easy to feel like the Blackcaps have zoomed past Neesham, even Anderson and any other kiwi cricketer who has featured nicely in the past four years. And that's where I want to finish because we are in the sweet spot of Blackcaps buzz, the buzz that comes when the Blackcaps are on fire ... in Aotearoa ... against weaker opposition.

Shout outz to the Blackcaps who are on fire, or have taken their chance with quality performances against West Indies. As a cricketing mind though, I can't read too much into such performances because a large number of cricketers who weren't in the Blackcaps squad would have done the same thing. I can't sit here and celebrate how good the Blackcaps are, how they have all their bases covered and all these new blokes have slid into the ODI team wonderfully, heck, I can't even celebrate how Trent Boult is back to his best without a caveat.

Boult is back to his World Cup best because he's swinging the ball in Aotearoa, just as he and Tim Southee did in the World Cup. Boult is one of the best in the world because he's remained effective in ODI cricket around the world, without such swing and so when he's swinging it, he's unstoppable. Don't get too hyped about swing bowling in Aotearoa though as it's a staple of kiwi cricket and this doesn't quite apply to such an extent around the world, especially in ODI cricket.

If Boult is swinging it that much in the 2019 World Cup in England, well different story and hypebeast central can spark up.

The summer will get harder for the Blackcaps and by the end of the summer, we will have a better gauge of who is legit and who isn't so legit. Even then, don't come to me with any great conclusions about the Blackcaps best ODI team until they have played regularly overseas. We are building towards the World Cup and it's completely irrational to make World Cup conclusions based on what is happening in Aotearoa, let alone vs West Indies in Aotearoa - West Indies still got to qualify for the World Cup!

Enjoy the cricket, enjoy the good vibes, enjoy the traveling circus that is the Blackcaps Battlers limited overs show. Enjoy me keeping it real and if you do, hit an ad.

Peace and love 27.