Throughout this summer's Super Smash, these update thingys will pop up every couple of days to cover various funky notes on both sides of Aotearoa's Super Smash. Two games have been played for the women and men, with Wellington Firebirds and Blaze coming in hot like your feet after a quick scamper down to the beach. Also, coming in hot in terms of winning games and getting plenty of telly-time.

Both Wellington teams had their games broadcasted in the plethora of ways and when you take a geeze down the schedule, both Wellington teams appear to be locked in for prime time. On the women's side, Otago Sparks host Auckland Hearts today and then Canterbury Magicians tomorrow with neither of those games broadcasted. The next games that won' be broadcasted come on January 3rd when Auckland host Canterbury, then January 4th with Northern Spirit hosting Central Hinds.

Then on January 18th, Central host Otago.

January 21st has Northern hosting Canterbury.

Neither of those games will be broadcasted.

The men's competition follows the same schedule. This means that both Wellington teams will play all their games on telly or Spark Sport, while every other team will play at least one game that isn't broadcasted. For folks who aren't from Wellington or don't give two hoots about Wellington, know that you'll be seeing a lot of both Wellington teams throughout the Super Smash.

For kiwi cricket fans, this will mean that any somewhat notable performance from Wellington will be blown up that little bit extra by the mainstream media. To suss out deeper trends or funky notes in the Super Smash, you'll have to scratch beneath the surface a wee bit more and of course, given that Devon Conway is already the darling of kiwi cricket (rightly so), prepare for all sorts of Conway chat throughout the Super Smash. Business wise, other teams could feel a bit iffy as their sponsors won't get the same visibility as Wellington.

These are merely the parameters that are locked in and in setting up the Super Smash yarns, it's important to know how the lay of the land looks. While Wellington enjoyed headline status to start the Super Smash, you may have missed Tim Seifert cracking 99* for Northern Knights in a cute little T20 tour fixture against Pakistan 'A'. Here's Seifert's recent wave of scores...

First-Class vs West Indies: 111, 60, 13.

T20I vs Pakistan: 57, 84*, 35.

T20 vs Pakistan A: 99*.

Wellington will have a crack at Pakistan A tomorrow, then Canterbury on January 1st and then they'll face a Aotearoa 11 on January 3rd. The Aotearoa 11 could be a funky team as it is unlikely to feature any Super Smash players and will be a mix of fringe-domestic players and longer form lads.

As the Firebirds and Blaze have played two games, that's where I'll focus the vibes today.

The Blaze rolled Auckland for 92 and then CD for 88 in their first two games. What's interesting here is that Auckland has White Ferns calibre top-three of Lauren Down, Anna Peterson and Katie Perkins and CD have noted T20 all-rounder Jess Watkin, as well Natalie Dodd in their top-three. Both of Wellington's opponents had White Ferns in the middle order with Auckland promoting Holly Huddleston to bat #6 and the Hinds enjoying the services of Hannah Rowe and Rosemary Mair. None of whom helped their teams put up a challenging total.

Perth Scorchers' opener Sophie Devine was at her destructive best in WBBL|06, smashing 18 sixes, the most in the competition

When viewing the leading run-scorers, I'm chillin' on any great insights as Amelia Kerr has had freedom to tonk it where ever she wants with her strike-rate sitting at 169.56. While Maddy Green struggled in the Women's Big Bash League with 129 runs @ 12.90avg/88.96sr, she has cruised to two not-out scores; neither Kerr or Green has been dismissed yet.

Green's work throughout the Super Smash will be a notable yarn as she's coming off that WBBL and White Ferns cricket where she hasn't contributed too much. As skipper of the Blaze and part of a hefty bowling unit that will soon feature Sophie Devine, I suspect Green will find a flow of form this summer.

Chasing low totals helps, although it also needs to be noted that Auckland had Huddleston and Peterson bowling while CD had Rowe and Mair bowling. With White Ferns in either batting line up, the Blaze rolled their opponents and then with White Ferns bowling to them, Peterson was the only bowler (of all bowlers) to take a wicket. The Blaze already look like a dominant force without Devine and it's intriguing to ponder how the Blaze are vastly superior to other teams; do they have the secret tomato sauce or are other teams well behind like you or I coming into pre-season training after a lovely summer?

Given how dominant the Blaze are and have been, they deserve all that prime-time viewing. Players like Amelia Kerr, Devine, Green and Jess Kerr are going to put up massive performances throughout the tournament and thus, there'll be plenty of buzz around their work. For those who are tapped in, this will be no surprise though as Amelia Kerr and Devine are genuinely two of the best cricketers in the world who have the ability to showcase the gap between them and the domestic circuit.

New Zealand spinner Amelia Kerr collected a triple-wicket maiden and narrowly missed a hat-trick in her Rebel WBBL debut for the Brisbane Heat against Sydney...

Amelia Kerr captured career best WBBL figures of 4-20 against the Sydney Thunder to help set up an important win for the Brisbane Heat

The crop of young/fringe seamers will be a pocket of women's Super Smash to focus on as I've got Jess Kerr as ahead of Huddleston and Rowe. With Mair coming off an impressive WBBL campaign and Kerr putting up solid ODI and T20I performances for Aotearoa, as well as a dominant Super Smash last summer, they are two to keep close tabs on.

Thamsyn Newton has played 19 games for Aotearoa (10 x ODI, 9 x T20I) and even popped up in the WBBL a few summers ago, yet she hasn't played for Aotearoa since late 2017. Newton has 4w @ 12.25avg/6.12rpo after two games along with Blaze wicket-keeper/batswoman Jess McFadyen, they could be the big movers and groovers of the Super Smash. Well, that's if McFadyen ever gets a chance to bat in this Blaze line up and with that in mind it is important to note that McFadyen scored 244 runs @ 61avg/69.51sr in the Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield prior to the Super Smash.

Wellington Firebirds defeated Auckland Aces in their first game, then casually brought in the biggest donnie of them all in Conway and Jimmy Neesham for their win over CD Stags. Here is Conway's recent wave of scores...

Plunket Shield: 157.

FC vs West Indians: 46*, 41*.

T20I vs West Indies: 41, 65*.

T20I vs Pakistan: 5, 63.

Super Smash: 67.

Check out how Firebirds coach Glenn Pocknall does his work as he catches up with Devon Conway and Andrew Fletcher.

Timely reminder that Conway's T20 average of 41.03 is 11th all time for T20 batting averages.

Guess who is 10th? Virat Kohli with his cheek 41.30avg through 299 games - Conway's played 77 games.

Conway has played four seasons of Super Smash, averaging 40+ in each campaign. The key thing here though is that Conway was an all-format monster in South Africa and in seven years of T20 cricket in South Africa, Conway averaged 30+ in all but his first season back in 2010/11.

In 11 T20 competitions, Conway has registered a 50+ score in each of them. That's why Conway's career average is so high and in the Pakistan T20I series wrap I referred to Conway's batting as a comforting korowai because his batting just makes you feel good. Stats are great, the eye test is a different beast though and Conway is blatantly one of the best pure batsmen in Aotearoa right now as he scores runs any where he wants, with ease.

Easy on all the noise around Conway's Aotearoa Test chances, or in an alternative universe where the Blackcaps play ODI cricket - his ODI chances. Of course, Conway has scored more than enough runs to warrant selection and like you, I want Conway in the non-T20I Blackcaps teams because he will contribute to wins. The Blackcaps Test team especially though, has a certain kiwi vibe of sticking with the lads they trust and under Kane Williamson, the Test team slowly integrates players into the mix.

Conway will get a chance, but the Blackcaps aren't just going to kick someone out to make way for Conway. Pieces will have to fall in place and any yarns about this player having five innings without a century hence they're in danger, ignore the mana of the Blackcaps Test unit. Conway will get there, the Test team is also winning Tests and/or competing strongly so just trust that all is lovely.

If that's too hard to comprehend; shit the bed we've got Conway tucked away frothing for a chance!

I'm in tune with where Conway's T20 average ranks all time, because it's a Cricinfo page I know very well. Auckland Aces captain Rob O'Donnell is 2nd all time with his 51.83avg and Chris Harris' 70.66 T20 average is still good enough to have him at the top. Averages depend on not-outs to be that high and Harris for example, played 25 T20 innings with 16 not-outs. O'Donnell has 27inns and 15 not-outs.

O'Donnell hit 27* @ 180sr vs Wellington, with that not-out asterix getting me giddy as any O'Donnell not-out will bump his average up a slither. Rob's younger brother Will offers some deep in the mangroves funk as well, even though he only managed 29 @ 120.83sr. Will entered the Super Smash with five consecutive 50+ scores in the Ford Trophy and prior to that, he had scored 270 runs in two games of Auckland two-day club cricket via scores of 216* and 54.

While I don't have Hamish Bennett in my Blackcaps top-tier T20I unit, Bennett is already on track to command further opportunities with his 3w @ 16avg/6rpo. Bennett's bowling strike-rates in T20 and T20I cricket are exactly the same (21.8sr), however Bennett has been far more expensive in T20I cricket than the level below and the key thing for Bennett in competing with the likes of Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Kyle Jamieson and now Jacob Duffy for those T20I reps is taking his tight T20 bowling into the international arena.

That 'heavy ball/hard length' bowling group of Bennett, Tickner and Kuggeleijn will be another funky pocket to tap into. Tickner was solid the Stags loss vs Firebirds with 2w @ 15avg/7.50rpo, while Kuggeleijn was decent against Pakistan with 5w @ 20avg/9.09rpo. While they can all steam in then serve up disguised variations, they have their own natural style; Bennett and Kuggeleijn lean the ball into righties, Tickner has a angle away from righties.

Based off of Todd Astle being selected in the T20I squad vs Pakistan, without playing a game, the T20 spinner situation is also a pocket to focus on. Fair play to Astle for getting a chance and he has a skill-set that can help T20 teams, although a T20 strike-rate of 105.41 isn't quite as destructive as one would like for someone who was probably selected for his batting ability as well as his bowling and thus batting down the order.

As Astle was selected behind Sodhi and Santner for the Pakistan series, you may think that Astle is automatically the third-best spin option in this format. For whatever reason, Ajaz Patel is pigeon-holed as a Test option and that doesn't do his T20 record any justice as Patel cruises around with 22.26avg/7.90rpo/16.9sr in 47 games. Last summer, Patel finished 3rd in Super Smash wickets with 15w @ 17.20avg/7.40rpo/13.9sr and Astle popped up for two games with 1w @ 48avg/6rpo/48sr.

T20 cricket is Patel's best format, yet apart from two token T20I games in United Arab Emirates back in 2018 he hasn't been graced with any squad selections let alone game time. Will Somerville has fallen off the casual fan's radar but has still been busy for Auckland Aces and he took 2w @ 17avg/8.50rpo vs Wellington and while Somerville struggled in last summer's Super Smash, he also has a decent T20 record.

Somerville did manage 9w @ 25.66avg/7.78rpo/19.7sr back in the 2018/19 Super Smash and like Patel, there is at the very least a case for Somerville to get the minor honour of Blackcaps T20I squad selection. For a direct comparison to Astle, Wellington's Peter Younghusband is a fun player to watch out for as he is a leggy who was the leading Ford Trophy spinner prior to the Super Smash with 8w @ 23.12avg/5.13rpo.

For strictly spinners, Somerville and Patel currently sit as my third options behind Santner and Sodhi. I'll be interested to see if Younghusband and anyone else emerges into this group, while also balancing the work of batsmen who dabble in spin bowling. I've got Rachin Ravindra as more of a genuine all-rounder than a dabbler and there will be many dabblers who shine in the Super Smash, but while their batting could take them up a level their 'all-round' talents or bowling won't be useful at the international level. Hence, specialist spinners or at least the craftsmen of spin will be crucial throughout the Super Smash and forecasting what might work in the T20I arena.

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Peace and love.