They don't play T20 internationals Kane.

With the confirmation that there will be a men's and women's World T20 tournament in 2020, we've been graced with some context for international T20 cricket. While I definitely believe that franchise T20 cricket should be played a lot more than international T20 cricket, the injection of the World T20 tournament adds some spice to the T20 landscape and I view this as being the ideal situation; franchise T20 cricket sprinkled throughout the year, minimal T20 internationals and a hum-dinger of a World T20 every four (??) years.

Who knows if we'll get to the minimal T20 internationals stage as NZC are fascinated by T20 internationals. Instead of pumping resources - including limited overs Blackcaps - into the Super Smash to raise the bar in all aspects and allowing for greater alignment between Aotearoa and the Big Bash League, NZC are doing the opposite. Obviously I think that's weird and I'd rather see a few T20 internationals sacrificed for a better Super Smash and more kiwis in BBL, which would benefit NZC.

I say that to say that I don't think we'll get to the minimal T20 internationals stage and that won't be horrible, so all goodies. Especially as we have a T20 tri-series involving Aotearoa, England and Australia starting this weekend. This may give off an illusion of Australia and England joining Aotearoa in loving some T20 internationals, but keep in mind that these will be the first T20 internationals Australia and England have played this summer, while Aotearoa has run through plethora of T20 internationals vs West Indies and Pakistan.

As the World T20 tournament has been confirmed, I'm now rather excited by this tri-series and that's especially the case given that we're moving into the meat and vege of the summer. West Indies were crap, Pakistan were alright but not all that challenging overall and I believe this has given many kiwis a sense of, perhaps arrogance about their Blackcaps. This tri-series, along with an ODI series against a sizzling English team and then a Test series against England will be what I judge this summer and the Blackcaps on.

Straight out of the gate, we've got something to sink our teeth into with this Blackcaps T20 squad as Lesson have a vastly different T20 scheme to England and Australia. Aotearoa is the only team who have their Test captain as their T20 captain (Kane Williamson), while Australia have David Warner leading them and England have Eoin Morgan as their skipper - Morgan is a huge factor in England's white ball success recently.

D'Arcy Short has taken all before him in the KFC Big Bash league and now fans get to see him in action for Australia in the Gillette T20 tri-series! BUY TICKETS: http://cricketa.us/u6PtSZ

Neither Steve Smith or Joe Root are named in their respective squads (Blackcaps squad is only for game one but I doubt there'll be drastic changes). Australia select their team based on BBL form and that means that the BBL's leading run-scorers D'Aarcy Short and Alex Carey in named (both average over 50, strike-rates over 140), then Andrew Tye (17w @ 18.58avg/8.13rpo), Kane Richardson (12w @ 26.16avg/8.05rpo) and Billy Stanlake (11w 22.36avg/6.47) earned Australian selections from strong BBL campaigns.

I could go on to include Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Lynn, Ashton Agar and Ben Dwarshuis who have all put up lovely BBL numbers this season as well. There's a distinct difference in selections from their ODI team to their T20 team and they select T20 players through their dominant performances in T20 cricket, executing specific T20 skills.

For England, there's a monumental difference between their red ball and white ball teams which is as much based on general vibe and culture as it is on their players. Morgan's got them humming with the white ball and coach Trevor Bayliss has a reputation as being a great limited overs coach. England also have players who have done well in BBL and Super Smash, once again executing T20-specific skills.

Jos Buttler averaged 33.66/143.26sr in 6 BBL games, Sam Billings averaged 31.20/141.8sr in 6 BBL games and David Willey was decent in his 6 games for Perth. They also have Chris Jordan who was part of the Northern Districts team that won the Super Smash and while he wasn't a crazy wicket-taker, he conceded just 7.65rpo off his bowling and had a strike-rate of 218.51 with the bat. England have also called up Sam Curran who was playing for Auckland and he's another skilled all-rounder; 26.16avg/161.85sr and 32.55avg/9.15rpo with the ball.

SAM CURRAN delighted a full house at The Oval tonight as he picked up three wickets in just four balls to leave Gloucestershire reeling in their T20 Blast clash with Surrey. Surrey came into their penultimate group game of the competition with a playoff berth well within their grasp although a defeat would likely leave them struggling to make the quarter-finals.

The Blackcaps on the other hand select a similar core group throughout their three formats, without paying Super Smash performances much respect. Tom Bruce and Ish Sodhi are exceptions and I'll be especially intrigued by Sodhi's performances along with Colin Munro as many people consistently refer to their T20 international rankings without recognising that many of the best T20 players don't play much international T20 cricket. Dominant performances against Australia and England will hammer home their status as T20 guns, yet this could also be a reality check for them and kiwis throughout Aotearoa.

Seth Rance is also a strong domestic performer, although it's difficult to say that he's someone who can make a mark on the international stage and I'm leaning towards him being a fantastic domestic cricketer who won't make the jump. He's got a great T20I record in 4 games, against West Indies and Pakistan, so how he performs against Australia and England will offer us plenty of information regarding his status as an international cricketer.

I like Tom Blundell and he's apparently the best T20 gloveman. He's coming off a mediocre Super Smash in which he averaged 23.85 and had a boring strike-rate of 126.51, which doesn't exactly scream 'pick me' when you put it on top of a 2016/17 Super Smash that had him averaging 30.37/134.25sr. BJ Watling and Glenn Phillips were better than Blundell in that season and this season Dane Cleaver, Cameron Fletcher and Tim Seifert were all better than Blundell with the willow.

Somewhat understandably, Ben Wheeler has earned T20 Blackcap status after impressing in the Super Smash and the funk here comes in Wheeler's most recent Super Smash efforrts in which he averaged 42.12/9.36rpo with the ball. I don't doubt Wheeler's skill and he can swing the willow as well (30.60avg/147.11sr), this is just an example of the Lesson doing the opposite of Australia and England in selecting hot players.

On a surface level; what did Wheeler do in the Super Smash to earn selection?

And that folks is the lead-in to the most confuzzling selection of them all in Anaru Kitchen; what has Anaru Kitchen done to earn selection?

In the Super Smash this season, Kitchen took 4w @ 36avg/9.60rpo and hit 71 runs @ 11.83avg/126.78sr. It's nothing short of comical that a player can earn Blackcaps selection with such performances (executing T20-specific skills) and then we need to factor in Kitchen's efforts in the previous Super Smash.

Last summer (2016/17), Kitchen took 4w @ 55.50avg/7.92rpo and averaged a righteous 17.10 with the bat (126.66sr). It seems as though you can earn Blackcaps T20 selection by averaging 11.83 and 17.10 with the bat folks, which is so disgusting it's kinda cool because then you ponder whether you could become a T20 Blackcap one day.

Anton Devcich and Mark Chapman are both far more worthy of T20 selection than Kitchen and Todd Astle could fit into that spinning all-rounder role as well. If we open it up to seamers, Daryl Mitchell isn't too far behind Devcich and Chapman either.

I'm just setting the scene and want to see how this all unfolds given that scene setting. The Blackcaps under the astute guidance of Lesson may be out-smarting Australia and England by taking a different path with their T20 group. Or this may be the reality check that perhaps kiwi cricket and more specifically Lesson need after life has been oh so honki-dory in bullying mediocre teams.

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Peace and love 27.