How you view this Blackcaps Test squad largely depends on whether you prefer Todd Astle's batting, or the pure spinning ability of Ish Sodhi and to a lesser extent Ajaz Patel.

The selection of Astle to replace Mitchell Santner was the only contentious point given that there's little reason for changes from the squad that rolled over West Indies to start the summer. I will add some weird little points to ponder about the Blackcaps Test group in a jiffy, yet Astle's selection continues a whirlwind of shenanigans from Lesson.

Remember when Astle was named in the Blackcaps ODI squad alongside Santner? And then Ish Sodhi was only brought in as injury cover? And then Sodhi played four games - should have played all five - while Astle appeared to be fit?

The Astle/Sodhi game of shenanigans is excessively weird when you put yourself in either of their shoes. Now it's Astle's turn for the shenanigans to fall in his favour.

I sit on the 'select the best spinner' side of the fence, not the 'select the best batting spinner'.

Let me make that 2,700 percent clear and let me also make it clear that this applies for Santner as well, who has proven himself as a more consistent international performer than Sodhi or Astle. Forget the batting and I've still got Santner as the best spinner, it's just a wicked bonus that he can bat alright.

Lesson on the other hand, want to replace Santner with a mediocre version of Santner. I'm not overly fussed with this as they have at least made their stance known, I just view their stance as being the problem. The proof will once again be in the pudding with how Astle performs with bat and ball, my hunch is that Astle is not going to show much as a Test cricket batsman, bowler or all-rounder.

After another chastening defeat in Sydney, Jimmy Anderson looks back at what has been an extremely challenging tour for the England side. Despite often getting themselves into good position, Anderson laments his side's inability to capitalise on those moments, and praises the Australians for their impressively ruthless performances.

This also leads us to judge Astle as an all-rounder. Lesson's clarity in their stance on selecting Astle means that we judge Astle's batting just as much as his bowling.

This also leads me to question the 'like for like' selection policy, instead of perhaps selecting the best players and building a team around those players. Astle has been selected because he does the same job as Santner, yet Santner is the best in Aotearoa at that job, let alone the fact that this specific role in the team exists because of Santner's skillset. This is similar to Colin Munro coming into the Brendon McCullum role in ODI cricket; he's like for like, just not as good.

Astle might fall victim to Lesson's miss-management yet another time as he may not even play, that's also a possibility.

When absorbing information about Astle's inclusion from the mainstream media, a few folk referenced England's deep batting line up as to why the Blackcaps needed someone who can bat to replace Santner. This is obviously very weird given that Santner has a unique skillset within Aotearoa, to the point where he is Aotearoa's best all-rounder and comparing yourselves to England to make selection decisions is faulty.

Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes were specifically referenced by some mainstream guy and Ben Stokes is also named in England's Test squad. Stokes is a genuine unicorn and Aotearoa does not have a cricketer right now that resembles his skill level, nor does Aotearoa have someone like Ali who opened the batting for England in Test cricket while being their main spin option. You could also argue that Woakes is a better seam bowling all-rounder than anyone in Aotearoa, which ultimately means that England have far superior all-round ability available to them right now.

Yet Lesson are trying to emulate what England has, instead of selecting a squad that reflects the skills of Aotearoa's best cricketers. In general, I reckon England will roll out a better team for the day/night Test and a group of bowlers who are going to enjoy the movement of the pink ball just as much, if not more than Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner - will Wagner's bouncer strategy work against England's batsmen who will be well prepared for Wagner's main trick?

England will definitely play James Anderson and Stuart Broad, I reckon Woakes will also get the nod over Mark Wood and Stokes could make his return to Test cricket. That's a pretty imposing seam attack in favourable conditions and Ali will add his spin into the mix, England's batsmen also have a tad more experience with this pink ball business which will have them better equipped to deal with the funky bowling.

Although which batting unit can deal with the pink ball's movement better will be important, I'm leaning towards the seamers being of greater importance; the most skillful bowling attack will win this Test.

I am not going to suggest that BJ Watling or Jeet Raval should not have been selected, I'm merely pointing that neither is in great form ahead of this Test series.

Watling is the worst performing wicket-keeper/batsman in the Plunket Shield this summer, meaning that Tim Seifert, Derek de Boorder, Cameron Fletcher, Dane Cleaver, Glenn Phillips and Ben Horne all have more runs and better averages that Watling's 242runs/26.88avg. Watling's Northern Districts homie Siefert is the best of them averaging 47.63 and Watling's lack of Plunket Shield dominance is far from ideal.

Same goes with Raval, although Raval has shown an uncanny ability to struggle in domestic cricket and then step up in tour games or Tests. Regardless, Raval's average of 19.33 is kinda terrible and he's hit a lone 50+ score in 12 Plunket Shield innings. Raval and Watling have combined for 3 50+ scores in 21 innings this summer, with no centuries.

Wagner has 24w @ 26.54avg/2.75rpo and that's definitely solid. Compared to other top-tier Plunket Shield bowlers, it's not as dominant as we'd hope from a Blackcaps Test bowler though as here are some seamers with better averages than Wagner having taken a similar number of wickets:

Seth Rance - 18w @ 19avg.
Lockie Ferguson - 19w @ 17.57avg.
Doug Bracewell - 21w @ 24.33avg.
Ben Lister - 21w @ 19.57avg.
Joel Baker - 28w @ 21.10avg.
Hamish Bennett - 28w @ 10.64avg.
Iain McPeake - 29w @ 15.72avg.
Matt McEwan - 31w @ 22.64avg.
Logan van Beek - 33w @ 15.30avg.

Again, there's nothing to suggest that Wagner should not have been selected or was even close to being in any sort of danger. Wagner hasn't been bad, no where near as bad as Watling or Raval and international bowlers can often be 'too good' for domestic batsmen. No dramas, just information for your souls.

For those wondering: Ish Sodhi has 9w in 3inns @ 25.55avg/2.62rpo and Ajaz Patel is the leading wicket-taker with 35w in 13inns @ 22.85avg/2.88rpo.

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