While predicting 1st 11 line up funk and various match up possibilities are niggly tasks for Plunket Shield preparation as we don't have the direct line of communication with coaches, there are still funky things that are so obvious they have to be documented ahead of round tahi. These are narratives, situations and different bits and bobs that are lurking and the best example is Tom Blundell, the Blackcaps Test opener doing his job in a stacked Wellington Firebirds batting line up.

The easy situation to point out with the Firebirds is Devon Conway. Every expects Conway to be selected for the Blackcaps asap and Conway is clearly capable, although my questions to you are A) what month with Conway debut in? And B) what format will Conway debut in? Last summer Conway was tucked away at #3 in Wellington's batting line up, while Rachin Ravindra held a steady opening gig in the Plunket Shield and the likes of Fraser Colson and Jakob Bhula spending time alongside Ravindra.

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As the Test opener of Aotearoa, Blundell should be viewed among the best in Aotearoa and there is a decent chance that Blundell will not open in Plunket Shield cricket for Wellington. If we slice this up a bit further, Blundell may not be viewed as the best four-day opener for Wellington and at the same time the Blackcaps view Blundell as the best opening candidate to partner Tom Latham.

This isn't about what's right or wrong, picking holes in anyone's selection. I'm merely pondering the funky situation here and Wellington aren't exactly short of batsmen who are likely to keep Conway in that #3 spot and Blundell down the order in his standard #6ish spot. Bhula, Colson and Ravindra are all in the squad again, plus Wellington snapped up Finn Allen from Auckland and Allen has made a business of scoring runs against touring international teams. Chuck in Michael Bracewell, then Jimmy Neesham when he returns from IPL duty and perhaps Blundell could snap up an opening job to help his Test development, as well as offering a steady partner for Ravindra.

Blundell, Ravindra and Conway is a juicy top-three ain't it?

Blundell has played six Tests with 47.22avg, two hundies and a half-century.

After six Tests, Jeet Raval averaged 40.50 with four half-centuries.

Raval averaged 40+ over the first two years of his Test opening journey and Blundell almost near that two year mark of Test opening. Again, I don't view Blundell as better than Raval nor vice-versa and this is just a funky situation to keep tabs on as it's a good nugget to hold on to when your chatty mate is talking about either Raval or Blundell, plus there is a juncture approaching where Blundell will either fall away or genuinely establish himself in concrete boots as the Blackcaps Test opener.

Northern Districts will now have the services of Raval and he is coming off a Plunket Shield season in which he averaged 19.55 through five games. That's after a 2017/18 Plunket Shield campaign in which Raval averaged 19.33 in six games and still held down Blackcaps Test opening matters, making for a rather complex situation for Raval.

What excites me in connection to Raval is the Knights opening combo of Raval and Henry Cooper, as I view Cooper as one of the best low key batsmen in Aotearoa. That 2017/18 Plunket Shield saw Cooper averaged 40.90 in seven games, then 36.23avg through eight games in 2018/19 Plunket Shield and wrapped up with finishing second behind Conway for all Plunket Shield runs last summer averaging 49.90.

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Will we see Raval shine with a change of scenery, or will we see the shine of Raval in how he's helping Cooper hit a nek level? Both are positive outcomes and will be crucial to the Knights moving forward.

Sliding back to Blundell and he is one of many wicket-keepers in Aotearoa with a hefty amount of runs behind them. Central Districts wicket-keeper Dane Cleaver finished 6th in runs last season (38.45avg) and he's casually averaging 41.79 in his First Class career, Tim Seifert is coming off his CPL experience is mainly viewed through the slugger lens but he's averaging 36.29 in FC cricket after 47 games.

Those three wicket-keepers lead the way and then there are funky selection situations. Wellington have Blundell and Lauchie Johns, while Conway has played in that role previously but like Glenn Phillips for Auckland; Conway and Phillips seem to be operating as batsmen. Phillips did play as a wicket-keeper in the CPL, however with Ben Horne doing a fine job for the Aces and Phillips flexing as a dynamic fielder, expect Phillips to be a batsman only.

Where do the fresh young spinners fit? The best Plunket Shield spinner last summer was Auckland's 32-year-old Louis Delport and each team will lean heavily on their senior spinners in these first few rounds.

Oh, Auckland also have Will Somerville.

Somerville averaged 63.50 in the Plunket Shield last summer before suffering an injury and handing over the spin job to Delport, who then averaged 24.11.

The Stags have Ajaz Patel. The Knights have Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner and 28-year-old Joe Walker.

The Firebirds are without Jeetan Patel and Malcolm Nofal (low key best before gappin’ Aoteroa) and gave plenty of overs to Bracewell and Ravindra last summer, plus leggy Peter Younghusband will be hungry for game time.

Canterbury perhaps have the only young-ish specialist spinner in Theo van Woerkom.

Otago have lefty-leggy Michael Rippon who was an excellent all-rounder for the Volts last summer, with Dean Foxcroft chipping in a few overs.

There is a lack of young spinners breaking down the domestic cricket door and that can be countered by the fact that many young batsmen fancy themselves as tweakers ... with adequate stats to back it up as opposed to that dude in your team who always wants to roll the arm over. Aotearoa definitely lacks spice in the spin department and it seems as though we are a in a bit of a lull as far as exciting, funky prospects goes.

In the spinning group listed above, there is plenty of intrigue though. Patel is holding on to his top spot, Santner and Sodhi have drifted away from commanding Test selection, meanwhile Somerville and Delport will battle for Auckland game time after Delport came out of nowhere last summer to dominate the latter rounds.

CD Stags are always the first team to check when it comes to team selection at this time of the year.

Somehow, the Stags have to get all that talent into one team and if everyone is healthy, there tends to be a few funky moves made. The all-round abilities of Doug Bracewell and Adam Milne allow them to bat in the middle order, plus the likes of Cleaver, George Worker, Will Young, Greg Hay and kaumatua Ross Taylor will be squeezed into a batting line up.

All of which is likely to see the underground hero of domestic cricket on the outer if the Stags are firing from round one as Brad Schmulian shapes as the odd one out. Last season Schmulian finished 7th in runs averaging 52.25 as well as taking 8w @ 24avg/3.07rpo with his leggies and Schmulian is currently chillin' with a FC average of 41.60 and a List-A average of 59.

If everything is perfect for the Stags, their 1st 11 could look like this:

George Worker, Greg Hay, Will Young, Ross Taylor, Dane Cleaver, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Ben Wheeler, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Seth Rance.

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