Throw out the tables or who is winning and losing, today's Super Smash diary is all about those Blackcaps and some White Ferns who are admiring how the World T20 looms on the horizon. There are some fairly interesting notes that folks may be overlooking regarding those who have enjoyed a fairly cruisey T20I ride in recent years, with a couple concerning trends from Blackcaps T20I cricket continuing.

While Tom Bruce (4th), Tim Seifert (7th), Jimmy Neesham (8th) and Glenn Phillips (9th) are all trucking along nicely, Colin Munro hasn't quite been able to kick on in the domestic format with the willow. Allow me to set the scene: Munro averaged 22 in five games vs England and 2019 was the first year in which Munro's annual average dipped below 30 since 2015.

2016 - 33avg.

2017 - 39.57avg.

2018 - 45.45avg.

2019 - 22.41avg.

In the Super Smash after 4inns, Munro has 66 runs @ 16.50avg/111.86sr.

Four other Auckland Aces batsmen have more runs than Munro and if we are to take into account the form of respective teams, Munro's Aces are battling in 5th (1-3). The worry for Munro here is that his Blackcaps T20I slump has stretched into Super Smash and any type of continuation of this trend will make it incredibly tough to select Munro in Blackcaps squads coming up.

The solid work of that Bruce, Seifert, Neesham and Phillips group clutters the landscape as far as welcoming youngsters into the Blackcaps T20I frame goes. I'd also chuck Daryl Mitchell into that group and their performances so far reflect their standing in the shortest format in Aotearoa…

Bruce: 218 runs @ 36.33avg/147.29sr.

Seifert: 153 runs @ 51avg/157.73sr.

Neesham: 151 runs @ 50.33avg/137.27sr.

Phillips: 146 runs @ 48.33avg/188.31sr.

Mitchell: 80 runs @ 40avg/150.94sr.

Devon Conway is again a notable factor, as he tends to be across all formats with 77.33avg/141.46sr after 5inns. Conway will be eligible for World T20 and has a rather tremendous overall T20 record of 37.45avg/121.73sr and while we know Conway is among the best T20 batsmen and general batsmen in Aotearoa, averaging 35+ with a nice strike-rate immediately puts Conway in rare air for T20 batsmen in Aotearoa. All of which makes it tricky for a couple younger lads who are have started strongly in the Super Smash.

The two I'm most interested in are a large reason why Otago Volts have exploded to a 4-1 start with Nick Kelly (3rd) and Josh Finnie (10th), following the lead set by veterans Neil Broom (1st) and Hamish Rutherford (6th).

Kelly: 222 runs @ 44.40avg/135.36sr.

Finnie: 145 runs @ 48.33avg/188.31sr.

The top of the run-scorer rankings is a collection of Aotearoa's certified domestic batsmen, making the presence of Kelly and Finne stand out that extra bit more. I've discussed Finnie's boundary hitting previously and his strike-rate of 188.31 is currently the best across the Super Smash; Finnie and Rutherford are the only batsmen with strike-rates over 170.

As far as bowlers are concerned, this group is similar to the group listed above for batsmen...

Mitchell: 7w @ 14.57avg/10.20rpo.

Neesham: 6w @ 16.50avg/8.86rpo.

Blair Tickner: 6w @ 24.66avg/9.25rpo.

Tickner showed promising signs vs England with 2w @ 37.50avg/9.37rpo and has settled back into his groove in the Super Smash. With a lack of Blackcaps seamers in the top of the bowling rankings, these three are the only genuine T20I Blackcaps in the top-10 and that's a product of the best bowlers being in Australia along with some lads slipping.

This group below is what I'd consider under-performers - those who tend to shine in domestic cricket among their Blackcaps appearance...

Scott Kuggeleijn: 5w @ 41.40avg/10.89rpo.

Ish Sodhi: 4w @ 41.75avg/8.78rpo.

Seth Rance: 3w @ 54.33avg/10.18rpo.

Kuggeleijn didn't take a wicket vs England, while conceding 13.75rpo and Sodhi took 3w @ 58.66avg/11.73rpo vs England. Rance wasn't in the squad vs England, but did play in Sir Lanka with 3w @ 40avg/10.90rpo and none of this boosts the selection case for any of these lads. In fact, how these three bowlers are moving backwards in the Super Smash is a rather hefty concern and right now, none of these three warrant Blackcaps T20I selection.

I'm going to take a dive into the wider Blackcaps spin situation tomorrow and with Ajaz Patel the leading bowler in the Super Smash, things are gathering funk. Will Somerville has been called up to the Blackcaps primarily due to his prowess in Sydney, which had me wondering how their records across the formats compare this season...

Plunket Shield

Patel: 7w @ 25.85avg/2.34rpo.

Somerville: 2w @ 29.50avg/2.56rpo.

Ford Trophy

Patel: 1w @ 73avg/3.65rpo.

Somerville: 8w @ 24.50avg/4.90rpo.

Super Smash

Patel: 10w @ 14avg/7.05rpo.

Somerville: 1w @ 117avg/8.35rpo.

You can come to your own conclusions from that, I will suggest that this is one example of how complex the kiwi spin situation is overall. Regardless of how you think about any of the kiwi spinners, I see very little evidence that one spinner is definitely better than the others and this is why we're in a pickle about spin bowling for Aotearoa across all formats.

With an overall record of 21.50 in T20 cricket, Patel can't be slept on as a possible T20I option for Aotearoa. Jeetan Patel is the next best Super Smash spinner and he's retired now, while the Cantabrians Cole McConchie (offies) and Blake Coburn (lefty leggies) will soon overtake Patel in the rankings. Neither McConchie nor Coburn are legit in the Blackcaps T20I mix, while Roneel Hira is a few spots below them and he's kinda out of the picture at this stage. With Somerville and Sodhi struggling, right now Ajaz Patel is the best T20 spinner in the Super Smash.

Although her Otago Sparks are struggling, Suzie Bates has stormed back into Women's Super Smash after reaching the Women's Big Bash League final with scores of: 31, 76, 106*, 47, 8, 49 and 82*. That's good enough to have Bates 1st in runs with 399 runs @ 79.80avg/137.11sr. White Ferns dominate the top of the run-scorer rankings, with Caitlin Gurrey, Katie Perkins, Jess Watkin and Rachel Priest round out the top-five. Bates, Perkins and Priest are veterans who should all be in any White Ferns T20I squad, while Watkin has featured steadily for Aotearoa in recent years.

The name to note down is still Gurrey as she continues to roll through domestic cricket with freakish ease. Gurrey and Bates are the only batswomen who have scored 300+ runs and Gurrey has 303 runs @ 101avg/159.47sr - a considerably higher strike-rate than Bates.

Wellington's bowlers are still cramming into the top-10, with Jess Kerr, Deanna Doughty and Amelia Kerr the top-three bowlers, while Sophie Devine and Leigh Kasperek are still in the top-10. If Jess Kerr can keep this up, she may wiggle her way into a White Ferns squad as she isn't just leading all wicket-takers with 14w @ 7.35avg/4.29rpo, she is one of the few seamers in the top-10.

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Peace and love 27.