As my comrade The Wildcard tends to do, he came up with the brilliant concept of comparing the run-scoring ability of our wicket-keeper/batsmen to that of Aotearoa's most maligned swinger of the willow Tim Southee. 

The Wildcard also wrote a splendid thingy about the Abby Erceg/NZ Football situation so check that out if you haven't already.

As the Blackcaps earned an impressive, if not slightly weird win over South Africa in the second ODI, we sat through another failure from Tom Latham. This sparked el Wildcardo's thought process behind the lack of runs from our wicket-keeper/batsmen and around Aotearoa there's a sense of angst surrounding Latham's work at the top of the order having failed to pass 10 runs in his last four innings' ... in kiwi conditions.

Everything The Wildcard highlighted is alarming and until that issue is solved, it's difficult to see the Blackcaps establishing themselves as a force in ODI cricket, in conditions around the world. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the wicket-keeper/batsman situation is the number of blokes used in that position, although follows the yo-yo/chop and change nature of Blackcaps selections in recent times; Tom Blundell recently got a call up and could have been groomed for the Champions Trophy with consistent opportunities but he was swiftly cut wasn't he?

This is why I'm happy to let Latham simmer away and find his feet. Right now we are building towards the Champions Trophy and while Latham may not be the answer moving forward as Glenn Phillips firms as a Quinton de Kock/Adam Gilchrist opening option and someone like Tim Seifert is building his case as a lower-order hitter like Brad Haddin/MS Dhoni. We've got both situations covered long-term, right now though bringing in someone else without a whole lot of big game experience at this stage of the build up to the Champions Trophy just doesn't seem like the best move.

Latham is out of form, Latham is batting without his usual opening partner Martin Guptill and Latham's performing nicely behind the stumps. Latham's last century was against Bangladesh, while his half-centuries before that came in India (two) and South Africa (three) where he was batting alongside Guptill. The balance between Guptill and Latham is a whole lot nicer than Dean Brownlie and Latham, with the latter serving up two crafty batsmen instead of a hitter/manipulator. 

The reason I'm happy to let Latham figure things out is form. Form comes and goes, leaving us to bemoan a bloke is out of form and call for his head as opposed to chillin' out a bit and understanding that in cricket, sometimes shit just doesn't go your way. Latham has scored half-centuries in Sri Lanka, South Africa and India, he's hit a century in Zimbabwe and Aotearoa. Latham has the tools to score runs in all conditions, it's just easier to do so when he's got a clearer head with Guppy blasting off from the other end.

Let's compare that to Brownlie and Neil Broom.

Brownlie's impressive half-century against Australia was his first ODI half-century in 10 innings'. If you're looking for a opening partner for Guptill, then considering that Latham does a good job with the keeping-gloves and plays his best in combination with Guptill then it's still Guptill, Latham (wk), Brownlie in that order.

Broom should get a ride to the Champions Trophy thanks to his experience and as I'm anti-chopping/changing, it would be reasonably shit to cut Broom after he's been in the team leading up to the tournament. However, Broom is skating on thin ice and while Latham has scored runs around the world, Broom's four scores over 50 have all come in Aotearoa and three of those innings' - including two centuries - were against Bangladesh.

In the three innings' since his 73 at Eden Park against Australia, Broom has scores of: 8, 2, 2. 

If you extend that out to Broom's recent Ford Trophy knocks: 2, 73, 8, 20, 2, 2.

Latham has done it before and I'm happy to ride with him for the time being. Brownlie's the depth option and well, Broom is in a tricky spot where he'll be desperately hoping for a hefty knock in this South African series.

Obviously Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are fantastic and their respective innings' in the second ODI were exactly what we expect from those two, so apart from getting giddy about how amazing they are, there's not much to say. Like Broom, Jimmy Neesham needed to do something with the bat as he hasn't been relied on with the ball in slower, spinning conditions; Neesham has resembled Corey Anderson in these two ODIs as he's an all-rounder who hasn't bowled.

Neesham doesn't need to score runs all the time, but he's steadily showing that he can bat at this level and like Latham, Neesham has done it around the world. Neesham's three half-centuries have come in India, Australia and Aotearoa while he's got a 42* in Sri Lanka, a 37* in Zimbabwe and multiple not-outs in Aotearoa. 

The Blackcaps got back into this series with their best batsmen (Williamson/Taylor) and their best bowlers (Boult, Southee's yorkers and Mitchell Santner's 2/46 @ 4.60rpo). That's how it should be, but as I alluded to after the first ODI, this series is about what the role-players do and Neesham responded. Now I'll be watching how Latham responds with Guptill expected to return.