What a weird way to start the kiwi summer. From Tim Southee nibbling the ball around to batsmen from Aotearoa and Sri Lanka then dominating and a final day lost to rain, everything that we love and perhaps don't like so much was squeezed into the first Test of the summer. Maybe it's just me, but this Test felt like an example of what I don't want so much in Aotearoa as well as a cheeky reminder of how tame this Blackcaps seam bowling group can be.

The two ideas are tied together as there was very little helping the bowlers after the juice of the opening session wore off and once that happened, the kiwis kinda got exposed. In no way am I suggesting that we get dramatic about Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner; this is more about ensuring that conditions are aligned with Aotearoa's best bowlers.

Then again, there are ways in which the Blackcaps bowling attack could get some spice. This would require carrying a bigger squad and then bringing in some fire from Lockie Ferguson, or spinning x-factor from Ish Sodhi if all signs are pointing towards a flat deck. Neither Ferguson nor Sodhi are close to being among the three-four best Test bowlers, however they have something unique to break up the tame medium pace, dot-em-up spin that doesn't really work when conditions favour batsmen.

Same goes for Sri Lanka, who had a gang of right-arm mediums and an offie. That resulted in Aotearoa reaching 578 all out via Tom Latham's 264, Kane Williamson's 91, Ross Taylor's 50 and Henry Nicholls' 50. Although the quality of batting from both teams was high and it was delight to watch Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis dig in, fight for their country and counter the bully-bowling from the Blackcaps, everything to do with the ball simply felt tame.

There are two angles to take from this point as different bowlers can be used when typically kiwi conditions are not present, or we can ensure that kiwi conditions are present. The latter angle is reason not to take this all to seriously as I believe the Basin Reserve pitch will be an anomaly this summer in terms of Test cricket. The Blackcaps need pitches that seam, if there's swinging vibes in the air then even better, but I'd suggest that captain Williamson and coach Gary Stead will want to see favourable conditions in Christchurch.

This point was hammered home in Wellington, because as the trio of Southee, Boult and Wagner age, their ability to cause damage in adverse conditions decreases. As tricky as Wagner's bouncers are, you'd expect Test batsmen to be able to adjust and handle a bouncer-barrage coming at 130km/h. Same goes with a 125km/h Southee bouncer and I don't think Matt Henry is the answer in such conditions as he's cut from a similar cloth.

What does Colin de Grandhomme need? Nibbly pitches. All these guys are good enough to execute a plan and while I think the idea of quickly moving into bouncer tactics is clear evidence of a tame bowling attack in these conditions, if Williamson wants short stuff, the bowlers do it. If Williamson says 'hold up an end', these guys can do that.

It's hard to win Tests that way though and when touring teams come to Aotearoa, they need to feel the wrath of what kiwi conditions. Personally, I find this a whole lot more enjoyable and the balance of bat vs ball always brings out the very best in batsmen and bowlers.

All of this has me a bit confused about how I feel about the first Test. At times, this was fascinating viewing and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mendis fight of Wagner for example. Oddly enough, it ticked a lot of the Test cricket boxes that cricket nerds love and casual sports fans yawn at. Yet I'm ultimately left unsatisfied and not because day five was effective a write off, but because we saw an environment that didn't fully support the Blackcaps greatest strength.

Otherwise, we have a bunch of seamers who toil away at 130km/h and resort to bouncers. Aotearoa's better than that.

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Peace and love 27.