Unfortunately for Jeet Raval, his excursion into 'out of form' territory is juxtaposed against a Blackcaps Test team that has been dwelling in nice form for quite some time. However you want to slice it, this Blackcaps Test batting line up is as good as we have ever seen and that's amplified in kiwi conditions. Which is then folded over, doubled down on by a bowling unit that tends to perform strongly more often than not.

That leaves Raval's woes as blatant, they smack you in the face with a stinky aroma. Maybe in the past, out of form Blackcaps batsmen or bowlers have been part of Blackcaps teams that generally stayed out of form. For fans, this provides a rather intriguing wee case of a batsman who is so out of form, it's awkward to watch and these are exactly the kind of situations that the prickly being of Test cricket provides.

Whether it's a 'test' of how to deal with a quintessential out of form trooper, or an almighty test of Raval's mental space and his batsmanship; it's a testy-Test cricket predicament.

This wasn't exactly an ambush though, as Raval came into Blackcaps Test cricket this summer without much Plunket Shield abundance. I wrote about this prior to the first Test because Raval's Plunket Shield work to start this summer, resembled how he started the summer of 2017/18. Raval had 12inns with 232 runs @ 19.33avg back then, before moving into Test cricket with solid scores vs West Indies and while Blackcaps should be performing in domestic cricket, whether it's Raval, BJ Watling or Neil Wagner, I trust the Blackcaps group to get the best out of players.

In two Plunket Shield games this summer, Raval had scores of 7, 3 and 14. This wasn't exactly a unique problem for Raval considering 25 batsmen scored over 100 runs and none of them played for Auckland Aces. Raval was part of a lack of long-form runs for Auckland and that has now had a far greater impact on his Blackcaps work.

Although Raval managed to bounce back from a horrible Plunket Shield in 2017/18, it marked a significant juncture in Raval's Test career. Raval has played 13 Tests since the two Tests vs West Indies (Dec 2017), averaging 23.75 which is a dramatic drop from 44.50avg in his first nine Tests.

That signals an obvious change in run-scoring production for Raval, in Test cricket and this feels in keeping with the journey most batsmen go through while trying to establish themselves in the Test arena. The work of Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and BJ Watling may offer the illusion that most batsmen develop nicely in their cricketing fairy-tale, while Raval's battle feels more realistic of what most jokers go through. Even Henry Nicholls is enjoying a great ride through the start of his Test career, making it all look fairly easy.

This presents a warm and fuzzy opportunity to allow Raval to work through this plateau, the type of luxury Aotearoa has rarely enjoyed. I'd also combine this with the vibe that saw me focus on the selection of Matt Henry ahead of Lockie Ferguson, which was not based on wickets and bowling as such. This was solely based on the Blackcaps team culture and how they go about their business; Henry has given his all to the Test team while not playing and everything about this Blackcaps group, is aligned with rewarding such team-first ideals.

The same applies to Raval. Not only do the Blackcaps have the batting prowess to absorb Raval's lack of runs, from the outside looking in, it appears to be an environment that will stick with players through tough times. Whether or not Raval has the tools to come out the other end of this, that's the key question and this is where the yarn could go one of two ways.

Adding to some concern is the difference between Raval's work in Aotearoa and overseas, although more time and space is required to build this picture. In Aotearoa, Raval averages 37.20 through 17 Tests, while averaging 12.33 in Sri Lanka and 21.83 in United Arab Emirates. Raval needs to play in other countries and deal with a variety of conditions, but there is already a clear trend starting to sprout.

Also, Raval now has four Tests vs England all of which have been in Aotearoa and Raval has 49 runs @ 8.16avg. Despite going alright in Aotearoa, Raval obviously has issues with the England bowling attack - this could be a matter of coincidence though as both series vs England have come since his form flipped for the worse.

I've grabbed some screenies of Raval's dismissals in Sri Lanka, then Plunket Shield and vs England.

Starting with very hard hands vs Sri Lanka. The second was spooned to short-cover and Raval generally lunged at all three of these, fiddling at stuff he probably should have dealt with delicately…

Raval then missed a few straight deliveries; Ben Sears nipping back between bat and pad, then Seth Rance exposing this even further by steaming the ball in between bad and pad with angle and swing…

Then we have a mix in Raval’s three dismissal vs England. The first was part of an awkward slog-fest in which Raval tried to blast Jack Leach for boundaries, without middling any and then getting out doing so. Peep the shape of Raval’s body - not aligned for powerful hitting…

And of course, fiddling outside off going hard at the ball as well as the ball going between bat and pad…

For a Test opener to be pushing at deliveries outside off and missing straight deliveries, that’s a nightmare. Raval hasn’t just been exposed in the Test arena, Plunket Shield bowlers moved the ball into an area that most Test openers should be able to deal with at the domestic level. No wonder Raval didn’t review the lbw from Sam Curran’s bowling and to be straight up, at this stage of Raval’s slump it would be a bit of a waste to use a review like that.

I’m definitely in favour of leaving Raval to deal with this slump, meaning he should go to Australia and face the fire there. Being dismissed outside off and to straight deliveries would be mental torture for Raval, which is the prickly nature of Test cricket. How Raval deals with this will tell us a lot about his batsmanship, because right now he is missing straight deliveries and edging those outside off.

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Peace and love 27.