Test cricket is glorious. That's the taste left after the Blackcaps defeated England in Tauranga to spark up the kiwi summer and while this may not have been so glorious had the Blackcaps not won, the past five days were still a lovely showcase of our favourite activity. The location of this Test obviously played its role and there was divine assistance in the form of delightful sunshine, combining with everything on the field for an absorbing five days.

Good weather and an interesting pitch set the tone. Aotearoa tends to hit the extremes in terms of pitches produced as they are either roads for the batsmen, or offering spice for the seamers. The Bay Oval deck had a bit of everything and outside of conjouring up pitches that favour the Blackcaps and whatever their needs are for a specific opponent, watching skillful bowlers trouble batsmen with all sorts of funk played a major role in making that Test glorious.

That then means that only those who go all-in on the craft of Test match batsmanship, will gobble up runs and that's equally as awesome as swing, seam and spin assistance. This felt like true Test cricket in the sense that nothing came easy, you not only had to be able to execute your skill but do so patiently and consistently. As cricket tries so hard to change, moments like these remind me and maybe you, that the at the very core of my love for cricket, resides a Test match like this.

Sustaining a level of desperation, intensity and skill isn't easy. This is best done by a group of cricketers who have experience and work well together, which will be impacted by niggles to Trent Boult and Kane Williamson. This Blackcaps Test team have played a lot of cricket together, even despite a lack of Tests because that lack of Tests has seen the same group rolled out rather consistently. This lends itself to the performance we saw from Aotearoa, juxtaposed against England who aren't quite as grizzly in terms of Test cricket experience.

We often hear about BJ Watling's role as the heart of the Blackcaps Test team. Quiet, humble and willing to do whatever is required for Aotearoa on the cricket field. What we saw from Watling in his knock of 205, didn't really offer anything new and this was probably more of Watling hitting a nek level in doing what he's always done.

This year, after five Tests, Watling averages 85.40 with two 100+ scores and a halfie in 6inns. In Aotearoa, Watling averages 41.65 and against England (any where), Watling averages 55.61. The numbers are nice, even more so knowing that Watling averages 55.23 in wins, while averaging 29.05 in losses and that may highlight the low key importance of Watling's middle order runs.

This knock from Watling flowed from salvaging the innings to steering Aotearoa into prime position to hunt a win. It's funky that the same crafty vibe from Watling was present throughout the whole 473 deliveries and maintaining that energy changed the whole energy of the Test. Guess that's a bit of life guidance in there that if you stick with the process, you can change the whole vibe of what it is that your going through.

Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner played their roles, not as batsmen but as a pair of all-rounders who chipped in with bat, ball and in the field. I wrote about Santner's runs yesterday and de Grandhomme's situation is rather similar as there was nothing to suggest that he could channel his whack-whack instincts into gritty Test match batting, prior to us witnessing de Grandhomme show that batsmanship.

Both de Grandhomme and Santner have looked like exceptional cricketers, to this point it had looked like they were selected because of how their cricket looked. Now everything is kinda settled and there is little reason to question their standing in this team, even if de Grandhomme still leans towards a whack. This is more about their fit into the Blackcaps 1st 11 their ability to chime in with what's needed.

De Grandhomme's 2 wickets in the first innings saw him knock the top off England's batting line up, after they had worked their way to 52 runs in 21 overs. Neither Trent Boult or Tim Southee could get a breakthrough, then de Grandhomme sliced through the opening pair and set things in motion. Santner's 3w late on day four set up the win almost as much as the runs scored hours earlier, again after the seamers couldn't get the early wicket.

That window in which Santner sent Dom Sibley, Rory Burns and Jack Leach back to the sheds, also set up a day five full of excitement as to what Santner could produce. Everything was in his favour and we don't see this enough in Aotearoa, so I was fizzing to see Santner go about his business and play a huge role in winning the Test on day five. This never quite eventuated and Santner finished with those 3w, now offering a moment of pause to appreciate that this was Santner's 19th Test.

I can remember Santner being in that kind of position before with some hype around what he might do. The thing about selecting a player and giving them ample time to figure Test cricket out, is that you gain experience through being in specific situations and Santner will benefit greatly from that day five experience. Working with conditions, offering variations and dealing with a splash of expectation in the Test arena will still be new to Santner and thus, it's another page or two in his learning notebook.

De Grandhomme and Santner didn't take the most wickets for Aotearoa, but they took important wickets at important times. Mixed in with catching, run-stopping and all sorts of run-scoring, that's an almighty all-round Test for those two.

Tim Southee took 4w and 1w, while Neil Wagner took 3w and 5w to lead the way for Aotearoa. This is the first year of Wagner's eight years in the Blackcaps where he is averaging below 20 and he's quietly sitting on 24 wickets @ 14.91avg in 2019. The joy in Wagner's work was that we saw swing, or a more classical style of taking wickets especially in the second dig and while it's nice to see Wagner bouncing mofos, seeing Wagner move the ball is equally, if not more scrumptious.

Kane Williamson also jammed 51, which is now sitting well beneath the radar. In 2019, Williamson is averaging 69.80 and that's bonkers, well not when you consider that Williamson has averaged around the 60 mark for three-straight years; 62.88 in 2017, 59.18 in 2018 and 69.80 in 2019. In the last five years, Williamson's yearly average has dipped below 59 only once.

There was one weird note, that blew my mind open as I watched Jeet Raval try hoick Jack Leach over the leg side multiple times ... too many times. Raval had faced 60-odd deliveries by then and Tom Latham was dismissed, which felt like a great time to press on and offer support to Williamson. Raval managed to get a few slogs to the boundary and not only were these out of character from Raval, he barely middled them and looked super awkward in trying to smack Leach.

So, Raval kept trying. Raval should have better options to release pressure and I know he does, he's a Test opener after all. This was mind-boggling and didn't resemble someone with a clear mind, all of which differs greatly from what we have seen from Raval to this point.

No Test Championship points here, just glorious Test cricket in Aotearoa. After so much niggly discussion about the make up of the Blackcaps bowling attack, the incumbents did a fantastic job and we now have the natural flow of regular Test cricket that assists rotation of bowlers. Trent Boult seems unlikely to play the second Test and if he's buggered then there is no real point, this is when Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson come into the frame.

Prior to this Test, everyone was fidgeting around changes and selections. That 11 that won this Test feels like the best 11, not based on talent but on how they work together and how the pieces of this puzzle fit. To win Tests regularly, you need ample Test cricket experience and that mixed in with the culture of this Blackcaps unit, won them this Test. Now the cricket gods open an opportunity and after these last five days, I trust the cricket gods whole-heartedly.

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Peace and love 27.