The upcoming kiwi cricket summer once again has a hefty focus on T20 cricket and while that means the neglect of glorious Test cricket continues, balancing T20I and ODI fixtures makes sense given the international tournament structure. If it feels like T20 cricket is being shoved down your throat, that's because it is and the drive-thru nature of T20 cricket will only deepen as the ICC in all their glory have decided upon a T20 World Cup in 2021 and then 2022.

While 2020 antics shuffled the schedule around, the ICC still planned on have two T20 World Cups crammed together and considering that the Test Championship is all a bit weird; ICC kinda suck at building interesting tournaments. New Zealand Cricket are merely trying to align with the ICC schedule now, although everyone is also aware that more T20I cricket in Aotearoa is because of the dosh involved. As much as we all want more Test cricket, a bit more respect shown for ODI cricket and a sprinkling of fun T20 cricket, the current diet is skewing towards more burgers, fries, pies and sugar as opposed to hearty food from the land of Aotearoa.

And guess what? The Super Smash has a new fast food sponsor - shout out to any sport/competition that leans into brands that help people.

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There have been some recent developments that make the T20 landscape rather interesting and I find this all intriguing because of how the T20 pieces fit into the general Aotearoa cricket landscape. The best thing is that Trent Boult and Kane Williamson were exceptional in the IPL, primarily because they played a legit sample size of games as overseas players and finished among the best performers.

Kane Williamson: 12 games, 317 runs @ 45.28avg/133.75sr.

Trent Boult: 15 games, 25 wickets@ 18.28avg/7.97rpo.

Overall, Williamson is cruising along at 39.48avg/134.80sr in his six years of IPL cricket and Boult is equally as funky with 25.03avg/8.53rpo. On top of that, Boult's best format is T20I cricket where his standard mid-20s averages across all formats (international and domestic) drops down to 21.89 in T20Is for Aotearoa. It's harder for Williamson to have a better T20 average that his Test average of 50.99 (or 48.44 in First Class) by nature of T20 cricket and yet Williamson averages early-30s with 125sr in both T20I and T20 cricket.

Two of Aotearoa's best cricketers ever, haven't just raised their mana through world-class work in Test and ODI cricket, they are also among the world's best in the T20 format. From a 'preparing for the T20 World Cup/s' perspective, the team needs to be built around Aotearoa's best T20 players and less about being a development step for younger players. With weird but legit context around the T20I format, there is a key shift in mentality that needs to happen and while it will be interesting to see how this relates to selection, Williamson and Boult are still 1st 11 T20I players.

So is Ross Taylor.

Between 2006 and 2017, Taylor had an annual T20I average of 30+ just once (2012 with 46.50avg/131.91r). Since 2017, Taylor has had averages of 38.20, 27.60 and matua Rossco started 2020 with 41.50avg. This is all rather important as it aligns with Taylor's wider yarn where he has hit a nek level late in his career, post eye surgery and he has flourished in a middle-order role where his experience and versatility is crucial to Aotearoa.

None of those dudes have played Big Bash League recently and the last slither of Kiwi-BBL funk was when Ish Sodhi bagged 9w @ 7.77avg/6.08rpo back in 2016/17 as Sodhi grabbed a three-game opportunity with Adelaide Strikers. I've long pondered the lack of cohesion between BBL and NZC, with this juncture being rather fascinating upon reflection as Sodhi settled into an NZC groove playing Super Smash and Blackcaps T20I games, while Afghanistan's Rashid Khan blew up after taking over from Sodhi with the Strikers.

Having pondered this for a while, it still remains a key idea in sussing out the Aotearoa cricket landscape. For Aotearoa Test and ODI players, there is no contest in deciding whether to stay in Aotearoa or take up a BBL gig as the mana in these formats is still the highest. For a player who is usually only in the Blackcaps T20I mix and/or munching down fast food in the Super Smash, the prospect of a BBL gig may be more enticing.

Simply put: would you rather play Blackcaps T20I cricket or be available for BBL games?

There are alternatives that would involve some humility and accepting that the BBL is a bigger fish than the Super Smash, or T20I cricket, thus moving different formats into alignment with BBL and opening the path for more kiwi to play BBL. That is definitely not a priority for NZC though and instead, we have a situation that is simmering beneath the surface with a possibility that at some stage players could tap into their own power and make moves.

This has already happened, just not quite to the highest level. Various players have given up their local T20 gigs, or domestic contracts to free themselves up to play BBL, although these players haven't been at the peak of their Blackcaps powers. This summer, it's laid out in an easy to absorb fashion as Adam Milne and Colin Munro have both picked up BBL gigs as Cricket Australia is finding ways to get international talent involved despite 2020 antics.

A workmanlike fifty from Colin Munro who anchored the TKR innings helped to set up a winning total for his team. He made 65 from 54 balls as TKR made 184/4, ...

Milne is signed to Sydney Thunder where Shane Bond is the coach. Often injured, Milne isn't on the Blackcaps radar right now and his last major game of cricket was on August 10, 2019 playing in England's T20 Blast for Kent. For Milne, he is basically deciding between Super Smash and BBL.

Easy decision right? Probably more money, far more buzz and a higher level of cricket. Milne probably gave up his domestic contract and this is often a narrative pumped up when these are announced as the security is tough to give up; if fit and available, Milne can still play any cricket for Central Districts Stags after his BBL stint.

I view that as minimal risk for Milne and for players who are good enough to warrant a BBL opportunity while otherwise just being in the Super Smash, then sweet as let's go jam some BBL.

For Munro though, it's slightly different as he has a genuine case as a Blackcaps T20I 1st 11 player and assuming Munro is viewed that way by the decision makers, Munro's choice is between Blackcaps T20I cricket and BBL. The BBL starts on December 10th and runs through to early February and Aotearoa play T20I series vs West Indies and Pakistan during that period.

Would you rather play T20I series vs West Indies and Pakistan or BBL?

Especially funky if you know that after BBL, there is a big T20I series vs Australia and the usual T20I series vs Bangladesh. That's where the selection ethos is intriguing as I've got Munro as a 1st 11 T20I player and we will see what weight is put on different performances as Munro gives up a Blackcaps T20I opportunity to someone else, although Munro may be performing at a higher level in the BBL.

Another name that deserves a mention here is Hamish Rutherford, who finished 9th in T20 Blast runs this year with 39.11avg/160sr for Worcestershire. Rutherford finished 7th in Super Smash runs last summer and of the 23 batsmen who scored 200+ runs, Rutherford's strike-rate of 173.37 was the highest. If Aotearoa are going to built the best T20I team, lads like Rutherford deserve attention and have earned stripes in other T20 competitions - the same applies to the king of the Caribbean Premier League Glenn Phillips.

🎥 Here's all 1️⃣9️⃣of @HDRutherford72's maximums from this years Vitality Blast ☄️

#✈️
— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) September 28, 2020

All of which makes the Super Smash weirder by the year. Gone are the days of big name imports coming down to Aotearoa for a typical kiwi summer and if you're a T20 trooper, you are going to hunt down a BBL opportunity ahead of pursuing Super Smash gigs.

BBL runs from December 10 to February 6.

Super Smash runs from December 24 to February 13.

That rules out the best T20 players as they'll be in BBL and throws up a decision for kiwi lads who believe in their BBL potential. No Blackcaps either as they are busy and when pondering the product of the Super Smash, thus how much money can be earned through sponsorship, ticket sales, broadcasting revenue and general buzz; the Super Smash is kinda held back by itself.

The Super Smash is sold as a headline act, without headline talent.

Dive into your imagination and there are alternatives, you barely need to get splashed to see how the Super Smash could be used as preparation for BBL with many of the best imports doubling up. Obviously that is in direct contrast to how the Super Smash is viewed at the moment and the whole plan is to jam-pack as much T20 cricket into the holiday period via T20I fixtures and Super Smash. Again, the Super Smash is scheduled as a headline act to draw in the biggest, most diverse crowds and yet by doing so, there is a lid on how good a product the Super Smash can be as the best players don't play.

For players, this schedule restricts their opportunities.

For NZC, this schedule restricts the Super Smash competition itself.

Meanwhile, Aotearoa is preparing for a double-banger T20 World Cup period and may do so with a player like Munro in-between Blackcaps and BBL. The most pressing thought here is what the Blackcaps will do as far as building a T20I unit that involves the best players regardless of their Blackcaps standing. Given that the Aotearoa T20 landscape is the most convoluted aspect of kiwi cricket, how all these elements interact with each other this summer will be fascinating as it sets up the weird double-banger T20 World Cup window.

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Peace and love.