Apart from the Pukekua Park bully George Worker (he goes alright around Aotearoa as well), the name thrown up by many of you punters as a bloke who needs to be given as many opportunities as possible is Ish Sodhi. We all saw the Big Bash League performance from Sodhi and vision of a leggy turning the screws, then turning the ball both ways is always going to get cricket fans giddy.

Tomorrow will bring with it a few specific thoughts on the Blackcaps vs South Africa series which will include a focus on the new squad; now featuring Martin Guptill and Jeetan Patel. As this bit is focused on Sodhi, I have found it strange that the Blackcaps selectors have again decided to fiddle with their selections (nothing new), thus fiddling with confidence and not allowing Sodhi consistent game time where he can ride the ups and downs of international cricket.

Regardless of conditions, my top Blackcaps ODI team has Sodhi and Mitchell Santner in it. Sodhi has taken at least a wicket in all of his last 10 games (two T20s, six Ford Trophy, two ODIs) and on top of that he's taken at least 2 wickets in six of those games. Yesterday we watched a South African bowling attack steam through the Blackcaps and I pondered whether the Blackcaps have a bowling attack that could do something similar. The truth is that unless the ball is hooping around, the Blackcaps need as many wicket-taking options as possible and right now, Sodhi's taking wickets.

Many of those games in which Sodhi took 2+ wickets were in the Ford Trophy where Sodhi did little but dominate. In the six FT games he played, took took 2+ wickets in five of them and finished the FT as the best spinner despite only playing six games. Of the bowlers who took over 10 wickets, Sodhi had the best average of any spinner (19.42) and only Canterbury's legend Andrew Ellis had a better average overall (17.41).

Compare Sodhi's numbers from the Ford Trophy to those of other spinners...

Ish Sodhi: 6 games, 14 wickets @ 19.42avg/5.03rpo.

Tim Johnston: 9 games, 14 wickets @ 23.07avg/4.96rpo.

George Worker: 10 games, 12 wickets @ 27.25avg/5.78rpo.

Todd Astle: 9 games, 12 wickets @ 32.33avg/5.10rpo.

Jeetan Patel: 10 games, 11 wickets @ 35.36avg/4.75rpo.

Ajaz Patel: 8 games, 10 wickets @ 35.50avg/5.14rpo.

The other interesting player at the moment is Sodhi's Northern Districts comrade Scott Kuggeleijn, who was cleared of charges and will now play cricket without the off-field situation hanging over him. Kuggeleijn has ruled himself out of being in contention for international cricket and is down on the bowling/all-rounder depth chart, so don't expect to see him immediately thrown into the mix.

However, it's now a good time to remind everyone that Kuggeleijn took the most wickets of any bowler in the Ford Trophy despite ND not making the finals. Kuggeleijn finished with 17 wickets @ 25avg/5.12rpo and he took 2+ wickets in each of his first six FT games, before finishing with a wicket in each of his last three games - along with a 65 and 85*.

With the Plunket Shield sparking up, Kuggeleijn is nicely positioned on the four-day wicket rankings as well. Kuggeleijn is ranked 5th, with he and Lockie Ferguson both on 18 wickets while the best seamer in the Plunket Shield is Canterbury's Kyle Jamieson on 24 wickets. Averaging 24.50 in the Plunket Shield means that Kuggeleijn is smack-bang in the mid-20s, in both meaningful competitions and if he can maintain his strong performances in domestic cricket, he could see his First-Class (33.14) and List-A (31.04) career averages drop below 30.

I don't think there is scope for Kuggeleijn to climb the ranks and command Blackcaps attention this year (winter tours and heading into the summer), given that he's competing with a strong group of bowlers and that we are reasonably stacked with solid all-rounders. As Kuggeleijn moves into Blackcaps contention, he'll likely find his niche as a bowler who can offer a handy batting option at No.8/9.

There's been plenty of buzz about Adam Milne lately and how he's returning to cricket. Kuggeleijn doesn't operate at 150km/h but he's certainly quick enough and most importantly; he's piling up domestic games across all formats, being highly effective in the process.