Boxing Day at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, is now the kiwi cricket dream and after toiling through an absorbing first Test, Aotearoa's Blackcaps will now be eager to flex in the second fixture vs Sri Lanka. In reflecting on the first Test, I found myself in a weird spot where I was left underwhelmed by the Blackcaps bowlers but with an understanding that none of it was due to their wrong-doing and that breeds excitement heading into Boxing Day.

Meditating on the Blackcaps bowlers and selection ideas, it's incredibly premature to question any of the kiwi bowlers and their selections. This is coming from the driver of the Kiwi County Tour bus, who followed Matt Henry's tremendous winter with Kent closely; there's no reason to select Henry for Boxing Day other than rest and rotation.

Regardless of how awesome Henry's winter was, he still sits behind Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner in the Test arena. Captain Kane Williamson and coach Gary Stead could opt for Henry ahead of Ajaz Patel, especially with moist conditions in Christchurch, but the idea here revolves around giving the premier trio an opportunity in more favourable conditions. Don't forget that if conditions are favourable for Southee, Boult and Wager, then Colin de Grandhomme will be frothing at the prospect of bowling.

Instead of questioning the kiwi bowlers, my main takeaway from the first Test is to question the conditions. Hence we shouldn't come to any dramatic conclusions about the kiwi bowlers as they did their darnest on a flat deck and when the Blackcaps' bowling x-factor is swing and seam, most of that x-factor was erased fairly early on.

Now we move into Boxing Day and this presents another chance to see world-class swing and seam in conditions that hopefully suit the Blackcaps' x-factor. While everything looked very similar in Wellington in terms of same pace, same bag of tricks etc, even a smidge of consistent movement off the pitch suddenly brings the variety of the Blackcaps bowling attack to life. Wagner for example, will no doubt use his bouncer as he always does but then the real weapon is the full ball and he can swing a yorker in or, with the batsmen anchored back waiting for the bouncer, get some movement outside off and catch an edge.

De Grandhomme's a bit slower, more dibbly-dobbly and with Southee and Boult swinging the ball in opposite directions, de Grandhomme offers more seam off the pitch. Even Patel benefits as he'll get greater bounce, as well as the mental advantage of knowing that batsmen will be keen to take him on and release the pressure. Just as a little moisture brings a pitch to life, a lively pitch brings the Blackcaps bowling attack to life.

There are no negatives when your only batting innings yields 578 runs with the top-five each scoring 40+ runs and facing 70+ balls. That, along with a cheeky 49 from de Grandhomme is resembles one type of a perfect Blackcaps batting innings. As we saw, batting wasn't exactly tricky though and the focus now turns to who will stand up and lead the Blackcaps with runs in Christchurch.

Sri Lanka presented a bowling attack that also wouldn't mind greater assistance from the pitch and atmosphere. Without the shit-load of wickets behind them, Sri Lanka's bowling effort resembled that of the Blackcaps in the sense that the strengths of their bowlers were blunted by conditions. The frontline seamers in Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara could pose a greater threat and Angelo Mathews only bowled 4 overs in the first Test, which will be sharply increased if conditions suit; Mathews is a like a better version of de Grandhomme with bat and maybe ball.

This may amount to nothing because of the seamers doing the job, however I'm low key intrigued in the battle between Patel and Dilruwan Perera - Sri Lanka's offie. First and foremost, this depends on whether either team's batsmen are good enough to handle the seam bowling and then we'll be graced with a battle of the spinners. Both have played a mountain of First Class cricket and I'm well aware that this may be a fantasy, yet the prospect of two crafty spinners using all their experience to find a way to contribute is funky.

There's no need for any Blackcaps changes, again outside of rest and rotation. The same blokes who played the first Test deserve the chance to try get a win in different conditions and while coach Stead showed selection nous in the third Test vs Pakistan, some of that was rooted in preparing for the kiwi summer. Sri Lanka have been in Aotearoa a while now and will be high on confidence from their performance in Wellington, thus presenting a enticing Boxing Day Test battle.

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Peace and love 27.