How about that Test win by the Blackcaps on foreign soil? Pretty mean aye, led by that lefty spinner on Test debut Ajaz Patel ... wait on, where was Mitchell Santner? The guy who has played as the top-dawg spinner for the last few years, across all formats and lures us into his awesomeness through aesthetics, how slick his batting and bowling looks who is now, well, I dunno where ol' mate Santner is.

Having seen a few headlines about Colin de Grandhomme's position in the Blackcaps Test team being in threat, I found myself always coming back around to Santner when pondering not only de Grandhomme, but also the overall spin situation. This started when Will Sommerville was called into the Test squad as I still had Santner ranked #1, thus making Somerville #5 and then when trying to suss out the balance of a Blackcaps Test team with two spinners for the first Test, it was either de Grandhomme or Tim Southee who would have to make way.

Given that de Grandhomme and Santner play an extremely similar role, pondering the future of de Grandhomme flows into the future of Santner. All of which however, means little now after Patel flexed with the type of attractive spin that makes many giddy about Santner's ability. Like Santner, Patel dipped his deliveries into Pakistan's right-handers with crisp seam position, then away from the lefties. The flight, the perfection of the release on each delivery is delightful and Aotearoa has a nice record of producing these lefty-tweakers who are technical blueprints in delivering spin.

Yet Patel turned the ball, heavily. Conditions were in Patel's favour and I'll reserve an all-in judgement until we saw Patel bowl at this level in Aotearoa, the rip and spin Patel gets off the pitch though felt like a major plus in a battle vs Santner - Santner on the other hand has height, bounce and international experience in his favour. As well as the batting ability if you're that way inclined.

SKYCITY Northern Knights spin bowler Mitchell Santner on last night's GPSuperSmash Prelim Final loss to the Wellington Firebirds

The good vibes from that Test win and the performances of Patel along with solid work from Ish Sodhi now has us all wondering where Santner fits it. It sounds kinda crazy to say that I'm wondering how a guy who averages 25 with the bat, 37 with the ball in Test cricket (46 in First Class cricket bowling) fits in, which is mainly a product of having Santner be a staple selection across the formats for Aotearoa in the past 18-24 months.

Many don't know why Santner has been given this free pass to consistent Blackcaps cricket. Straight up. Even if we extrapolate this out a bit and ponder Santner's World Cup possibilities; Santner took 3 wickets in 39.5 overs in the ODI series vs England earlier this year.

So here we are, with two spinners who are probably better spinners than Santner in the Test team and maybe Somerville's a better bowler than Santner as well. On top of that, in 50-over cricket we have a World Cup looming on the horizon that will be in England, where a few seamers and a frontline spinner will likely be the bowling unit. Might I add that we also have a new coach in Gary Stead and we've not no legit idea how Stead views Santner in Test and ODI cricket.

Funky times huh? A lot now depends on the development of Patel and how he works through the difficult task of maintaining his threat, while Pakistan and other opposition batsmen become more acquainted with his work. Patel passed the aesthetic test, as well as the more important 'do a job' test but this was one game and conclusions can't be reached from one game.

Depending on how creative coach Stead is and how tied to the old school seam/spin selection balance he is, we may or may not see multiple spinners on a frequent basis. This goes for Test and ODI cricket, all around the world and most notably in Aotearoa. If Aotearoa's best bowlers are spinners (who have dominated domestic cricket in Aotearoa), then they should be picked ahead of seamers. But that's not the kiwi tradition and Stead's perspective on that will play a major role in Santner's future.

Which is where we come back to de Grandhomme. Aotearoa has three-four serious contenders for an all-rounder spot, none of whom feel quite good enough to demand selection for a second all-rounder spot ahead of a batsman or bowler; de Grandhomme, Santner, Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham. De Grandhomme and Santner are quite similar, in that they are good as all-rounders but neither is good enough to be a frontline bowler or batsman and that's a minor issue.

Having explained the complex situation with the second-tier of kiwi bowlers, digging any deeper into the wider Santner situation will make me bonkers. It's not an issue we need to worry about now either because, unfortunately for Santner he isn't in control of the immediate checkpoints that could play a major role in influencing his involvement this summer and subsequently the World Cup.

The first checkpoint is Patel and Sodhi's performances in the remainder of this Test series. In favourable spinning conditions, they need to sustain the level of bowling from the first Test, if not improve.

Maybe Somerville gets a crack, then he becomes a low key checkpoint as well. With Patel and Somerville being new to the Test scene, that's two bowlers who need time before being genuinely judged and as long as these two reach their checkpoints in positive fashion, it bumps Santner back.

Just giving you a razz before the series starts, Zim fans. Before he got tired, Aliseni did rough up and bounce out Raval, I believe.

Another checkpoint is de Grandhomme and whether he makes the cut for the second Test, then how he performs. I'm not as dramatic about de Grandhomme's struggles in UAE and specifically the first Test; he was alright with the ball and the top-six batsmen should be largely responsible for totals of 153 and 249, not de Grandhomme.

Also keep in mind that this was de Grandhomme's first Test outside of Aotearoa. That's going to result in growing pains and unless de Grandhomme's Test performances become a trend throughout this series, he deserves the chance to figure his shit out.

Sodhi's batting is improving as well and Patel faced 43 deliveries in the first dig, before 6* off 17 in the second. If the two spinners can handle themselves at this level with the willow, then suddenly the balance of this team shifts and non-Santner options are in abundance.

The best thing for Santner is to get back to domestic cricket and make his case for selection. It feels as though that free pass into the Blackcaps consistently drifted off into the UAE dust last weekend and now we should be graced with the opportunity to see Santner command selection. In the immediate future, prior to Santner making his return from injury, it's all about Patel and Sodhi kicking on and how de Grandhomme works his way through the challenge of Test cricket on foreign soil.

All these factors in the Test cricket bubble will then flow into ODI cricket as the Blackcaps return to Aotearoa. I've whipped myself into a mental frenzy already trying to set the scene and things could get crazier as the summer rolls on.

Hit an ad to support the Blackcaps chatz.

Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache directly, we drop bonus stuff for the Patrons and take care of the homies.

Peace and love 27.