2020/21 Aotearoa Super Smash: Wellington Cricket Appreciation
Culture, specifically team culture is an elusive yet crucial element of sporting success and here in Aotearoa we tend to do team culture fairly well. Within Aotearoa, there are still levels of culture and Wellington cricket have been brewing their culture in recent years to the point where such vibes are tangible to those quietly observing from a distance. If the All Blacks are bastions of Aotearoa team culture and City Kickboxing are fresh example of blossoming culture, Wellington cricket has emerged as a domestic culture baker.
What comes first - success or the forming of lovely team bacteria (culture, not covid)? Since the 2014/15 Super Smash season, Wellington Firebirds have won three Super Smash Championships and the Wellington Blaze have four titles. In that period, no other team on either side of the Super Smash has won more than one title.
Of course other teams have won the Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield. Unfortunately, T20 cricket is the most visible domestic format in Aotearoa and when checking the culture vibes, it's far easier to catch the vibe when seeing these teams play frequently - seeing how these teams and their associations provide an entertainment product and generally conduct their business. It makes sense that this kefir of team culture is most evident in the most visible product and I don't think it's too much of a stretch to extrapolate these insights across the multi-format cricket landscape.
This is where the waves get choppy as the journey of understanding team culture winds this way, and that'a'way. That 2014/15 season saw Wellington do the Super Smash double, something that no other association has done and something that was only repeated by Wellington last season. I have no information of organisational leadership, merely observations from the outside and that 2014/15 season may have been the taste of success to build upon and/or a key individual may have entered the frame with hearty ideas.
Sophie Devine and Hamish Bennett are the kaumatua of Wellington's respective teams. In these teams, senior leadership is crucial to setting standards and a buy in of culture vibes from the Wellington leadership and coaches. Devine is one of the best wahine to ever play women's cricket and Bennett's quality in the domestic circuit is undeniable. How Bennett fits into this Wellington set up is intriguing as he had a Super Smash bowling strike-rate of 30+ for three consecutive campaigns, before dipping that strike-rate below 21 for five consecutive seasons including this current version.
Anything under 20sr is elite. Devine's elite as a international cricketer and Bennett is an elite Super Smash performer, to the point where he forced his way into the Blackcaps T20I group from those Wellington foundations. These two set the tone, in dominating their opposition and also leading by example in how they are as kiwis.
In this current Super Smash, the Blaze are 6-2 and the Firebirds are 7-1. Both are at the top of their respective ladders and while both teams have elite Super Smash performers, the mahi is spread throughout the teams. The Firebirds have three bowlers and two batsmen in either top-10 for wickets and runs, the Blaze have four bowlers and three batswomen in either top-10. Heck, of the 19 bowlers who have 5+ wickets, the Blaze have six of them.
Finn Allen and Devon Conway are the Firebirds batsmen among the best. Then take your pick from Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell or Jimmy Neesham as to how you want your Firebirds runs scored. 26 bowlers have 5+ wickets in the men's competition and seven of them are Firebirds - including the funky spin threat of Bracewell, Ravindra and Peter Younghusband.
Five years after that Super Smash double, Wellington still has a variety of players dominating the competition. That means that this isn't a phase, nor a good cycle of players as Wellington have ensured that new players are ready to be rotated into either squad and maintain their values. Take leggy Younghusband for example as he made his T20 debut back in 2016, but has only played 14 games as he had to wait for his time to come and now he's played all eight games.
Think about how Blundell had to dwell in patience for his Blackcaps opportunity, or Conway's trajectory of continuous improvement. Across Wellington cricket, there are players who have had to graft to where they are at now and this is a combination of patience, faith and plenty of mahi. To the point where it seems as though spending enough time in the Wellington set up will pay off, hence players have moved to Aotearoa's capital to play cricket.
Bennett and Logan van Beek left Canterbury, Neesham and Michael Bracewell left Otago. Maddy Green left Auckland, Leigh Kasperek left Otago. Green has played international cricket since 2014 and Kasperek since 2015, both would have believed that for them to hit a nek level, Wellington was the place to be. Now we have Allen, who was one of Auckland's best prospects and after making his Auckland Super Smash debut in 2017, Allen's nek level was with Wellington.
These aren't fringe domestic players looking for game time and while that's a completely logical way to build a squad, there is a difference. Wellington lure in players who were already notable domestic cricketers elsewhere, if not proven internationals elsewhere. None of which takes away from their essence of Wellington as they consistently churn out local products who rep the capital like Nelson Asofa-Solomona or Ardie Savea.
Conway hit up Wellington upon arrival in Aotearoa and blossomed. Ravindra, Blundell and Ben Sears are talented local juniors on the Firebirds side. The Blaze have Devine, the Kerr sisters, Thamsyn Newton, Jess McFadyen and Xara Jetly - among others for both teams. Ponder that balance between integrating players from other teams with the Wellingtonians and that's pretty tricky by itself let alone building a winning culture as well.
Earlier in the Super Smash I noted that we'd see plenty of Wellington on telly throughout this Super Smash. That doesn't really matter too much as all the games are streamed on Youtube, although you get what you deserve and between on-field success and an entertainment product, Wellington are basking in their exposure. Wellington's Super Smash antics deserve to be broadcasted and through that visibility, it's easy to see how the organisational culture is manifested in the entertainment product.
Wellington loves their cricket and the public's involvement is a reflection of the effort put in by Wellington cricket to deliver a wholesome product. Maybe it's Logan van Bank, maybe it's the ambience of the Basin Reserve, maybe it's the diversity in the community that supports Wellington cricket. No matter what you want to pin-point, all of the culture and vibe is felt when watching Wellington play Super Smash cricket in Wellington.
This is merely about a good organisation building an environment that breeds success for everyone. No matter who the people are, where they from, what culture they are. Throughout the Super Smash, Wellington cricket have built out their culture to the point where it really does smack you in the face when you park up and watch Wellington play cricket. Wellington win cricket games, they recruit the best available players, they breed and develop their local players to the highest level and they deliver a product that is wholesome and holistic. Chur to good culture.
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Peace and love.