With only three cuzzies currently on the Kiwi County Tour, we've had to down-size from a bus to a people mover. One of my South Auckland brothers hooked me up with a cheeky van to transport the lads and their gear, allowing for us to not only get closer physically but also closer as people. If only I could share some of the yarns from our time in the van and while I was quite annoyed that there were only three lads on the Kiwi County Tour, I'm really starting to like it as there are more opportunities to bond with some veteran cricketers.

This round Lord Jeetz and I spun some good yarns as James Franklin and Neil Wagner were doing battle. Before and after a game, it's all love but when we've got some kiwi on kiwi County cricket crime, the van isn't somewhere you wanna spend too much time. Thankfully neither Franklin's Middlesex, nor Wagner's Essex could force a result and with Jeetz also playing in a draw, good vibes flowed as no one was too up or down on how their game had gone.

We've got the Royal London One-Day Cup coming up next, so this is the last round of County cricket until later in May. Juggling some updates during the one-day stuff will be tricky but trust ya boy to keep you in the loop of how our Kiwi County Tour lads are going. How Lord Jeetz goes in these fixtures (before the tri-series) will be especially funky as he'll go from here to the Blackcaps and could carry good one-day form into camp, or not.

James Franklin (Middlesex) vs Neil Wagner (Essex)

At Lord's, Franklin and Wagner didn't do a whole lot. Franklin could only muster 3 off 8 balls in Middlesex's first innings and he wasn't really required to do much more as the top-three for Middlesex all hit centuries and they worked their way to 507/7dec. Obviously that made for a tough outing for Wagner as he went wicket-less through 27 overs, but kept things tight as he only conceded 2.74rpo which was the lowest rpo of Essex's main bowlers.

Essex could only reach 295 in reply and Wagner chimed in with 3 off 9 balls before he was bowled by Steven Finn. Just as Wagner hadn't taken a wicket, Franklin used himself as a third-seamer ahead of Finn but Franklin also went wicket-less while Finn took 4/51 @2.30rpo. Franklin had a hefty stint with the ball, bowling 16 overs @ 3.62rpo and wasn't required to bat in Middlesex's second dig as he brought his batsmen in on 239/3 dec to set Essex 452 to win.

Wagner again failed to take a wicket and this time around he went at 6.20rpo. Of the five Essex bowlers used, none of them conceded less than 5.50rpo so Wagner certainly wasn't an exception in getting pumped. Franklin didn't use himself with the bowl and he wasn't needed as Middlesex had Essex 130/7 when Wagner came to the crease. Wagner battled hard with the bat, hitting 16* off 48 and he ensured that Essex would salvage a draw. 

We all know Wagner is a gun and he's been our best bowler for a while now, making this game a strange one for him as it was the first game since a domestic T20 fixture way back on January 3rd that he hasn't taken a wicket in. Since that T20, Wagner has bowled in 17 innings and not taken a wicket in just four of those innings - even if Wagner went wicket-less in an innings, he took wickets in the other innings.

Ignoring a List-A game, Wagner has taken 33 wickets in eight games (five Tests, three County). Wagner sits 6th in Division One wickets, although this game has messed up his average as that's ballooned out to 37.81.

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire vs Surrey)

Up in Birmingham, the form Jeetz had built up in recent rounds went out the window as he got a six-ball duck with Warwickshire dismissed for 332. Surrey have these Curran brothers and they combined for 7 wickets in the first innings and Surrey also have this other bloke named Kumar Sangakkara, who hit 105 and helped Surrey reach 437, thus taking a lead.

Jeetz took 3/74 in that innings, conceding 2.42rpo and put in his standard mammoth shift of 30.3 overs. All 3 of Patel's wickets were bottom-five batsmen, despite him being the third bowler used. As Ian Bell hit 99 for Warwickshire, Patel found rekindled his love for run-scoring and hit 20 before being trapped lbw by Tom Curran (who took 4 wickets in either innings). Patel wasn't required with the ball as Warwickshire declared on 435/8 and no further play was to be had.

Slow and steady for Jeetz; he's ranked 21st in Division One wickets with 6 @ 36.16avg. Usually this wouldn't be a drama as Lord Jeetz chips away at his pursuit of 50+ County wickets in a season by taking a couple most games, however this season Jeetz will miss some County cricket thanks to his pesky Blackcaps resurgence. Right now he's on track but he'll need to up the ante swiftly if he wants to reach that incredible 50-wicket mark again.

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