Perhaps my favourite cricketing idea to follow and discuss, is Aotearoa's involvement in Australia's Big Bash League. Unfortunately, this should be worded 'lack of involvement' because Aotearoa's best T20 cricketers are routinely kept out of the BBL loop via weird scheduling and a lack of collaborative intent from NZC. I'll save you the whole yarn that I've spun a few times and sprinkle a few key points into this BBL08 preview.

Only two kiwi lads will play in BBL08; Brendon McCullum (Brisbane Heat) and Anton Devcich (Sydney Thunder). McCullum only plays T20 cricket and has little to do with kiwi cricket at any level, while Devcich turned down a domestic cricket contract to take up opportunities like this as he and Chris Jordan were brought in to replace Joe Root and Jos Buttler.

Devcich's situation is the most interesting and I believe it is the type of move that more kiwis will make. Despite not having a domestic contract in Aotearoa, Devcich played seven Ford Trophy games and after playing in the T10 League in United Arab Emirates, Devcich returned to play a couple Plunket Shield games. Devcich is rather unique because of his experience/mana with Northern Districts Knights which gives him some wiggle room, plus he's a solid T20 performer which means he can get a T20 gig around the world.

The idea of turning down your domestic contract may seem dramatic, but as we've seen with Devcich, there aren't many ramification other than the lack of that reliable dosh coming in. With no domestic contract, Devcich can still play domestic cricket and each game he plays, he'll get match payments. Basically, this boils down to Devcich being in a fabulous position.

A fabulous position that I can see other kiwis wanting a piece of. The main idea I want you to absorb is that as long as the kiwi summer schedule has Blackcap white ball cricket and - even weirder - Super Smash lined up directly against BBL, some kiwis will have to make a choice between taking up a BBL offer and whatever's left in Aotearoa.

Would you rather play Super Smash or BBL?

With zero context around T20 internationals at the moment; would you rather play Blackcaps T20 or BBL?

This is why so few kiwis play BBL as they are following the NZC guidelines. My hypothesis is that at some stage, we'll see more kiwis want to play BBL and as long as they have that desire, plus NZC maintain their stubborn stance, we could have some ... 'interesting' battles on the horizon.

While Devcich has taken his route to BBL, this didn't quite work out for Mitchell McClenaghan who had previously turned down a contract to pursue T20 opportunities. Last summer McClenaghan played for the Thunder and this summer he's back on Auckland's contract list; if those T20 opportunities dry up, you gotta get that reliable contract cash.

Neither McCullum or Devcich tickle my toes in terms of wanting to follow, write and break down their BBL campaigns. Of greater interest to me are the kiwi coaches involved, especially now that Shane Bond has taken up a head coach role at the Thunder, joining Stephen Fleming at Melbourne Stars and Daniel Vettori at Brisbane Heat - where he'll be joined by James Franklin.

Franklin will take on a consulting role in January, when shit gets real in BBL. This is where things get juicy because Franklin has been a consistent figure for Middlesex on the Kiwi County Tour, in all three formats over the last few years, operating as captain as well. Vettori has been Middlesex's T20 coach and has enjoyed the services of McCullum, in Middlesex's T20 team; all three are with Brisbane Heat now.

This idea of kiwis hooking kiwis up, flows into Bond's new role as head coach of the Thunder. Lee Germon was Canterbury Cricket's chief executive and during his tenure, he sparked up a relationship with Sydney Thunder (where Henry Nicholls featured briefly) and that connection led to Germon taking on the General Manager role with the Thunder last year.

Germon then snatched Bond way from the Heat and while he was still under contract as an assistant coach, Bond left with Vettori's blessing. Germon and Bond are both Cantabrians, who would have worked together in various capacities and that make it no surprise to see Germon lock up Bond as the Thunder's head coach.

Also on the Thudner's coaching staff is John Bracewell. This is a bit odd as Bracewell has just started his first summer in charge of Northern Districts Knights, however Bracewell coaches the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy teams, not the Knights Super Smash team. Gareth Hopkins is their T20 coach and funnily enough, this is an example of how the lack of alignment between BBL and Super Smash can help/hinder those wanting to challenge themselves.

In this instance, Bracewell is able to take up a BBL gig because he's not involved in Super Smash coaching. Instead of taking a back seat, Bracewell gets a chance as a BBL assistant coach under fellow kiwis Bond and Germon which will be great for Bracewell's growth as a coach. As Hopkins has started with T20 coaching, don't be surprised to see him become a BBL option if the Knights maintain their strong Super Smash performances.

All these coaching gig are given to those who deserve it and I'm not implying that kiwis give kiwis jobs just because they are kiwis. Aotearoa has an abundance of coaches and they are all worthy of their roles, although having connections and relationships can be crucial. Whether these connections and relationships then influence the decisions of players as BBL continues to grow, will be super interesting.

There aren't many kiwis in BBL right now, yet there are plenty of coaches and those coaches may wish to dip into Aotearoa to bolster their squads. I still believe that as long as the status-quo remain, we will get to a point where players have to chose and for some, the offer of playing under Vettori, Fleming or Bond may be too good to refuse.

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Peace and love 27.