And so the Aotearoa summer comes to an end with the Blackcaps bullying all cricketing tourists. Sure, the Aussies were typical Aussies in the five-game T20I festival and yet the kiwis cruised to victory in the decider to win by 7 wickets with 27 deliveries remaining. The top-tier Blackcaps continued to develop and improve, doubling-down on their world-class status and fresh Blackcaps were graced with familiar conditions in which their domestic form translated to success against touring teams.

The highlight? In a ocean of T20I cricket, the first Test vs Pakistan in Tauranga was a thing of beauty. This factors in the quality of the opponent as Pakistan were far better than West Indies in the Test arena, as well as seeing the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi impress while connecting with the kiwis. No Babar Azam though, which was a bummer.

All the kiwi batsmen scored runs in that first Test. It featured my low key favourite moment of the summer as Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor combined as Aotearoa's best batsmen to fight off Pakistan's seamers in a fun battle. Neil Wagner steamed in with bung toes and Mitchell Santner unleashed the slink throw, before showcasing his hops. Test cricket at its finest, in pure kiwi styles.

What to make of all this T20I cricket? I dunno.

So many players came and went. Aotearoa's depth was on display, while the top-tier could pick their moments and chill. All this T20I cricket makes it easy to forget that Wagner and BJ Watling exist, or that Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham are legit world-class cricketers. Perhaps this amount of T20I cricket puts a veil up, a mist of illusion as to where the power sits within Aotearoa cricket.

Of course, it's more a matter of convenience as the schedule reflects what is important. T20 World Cups are on the radar, as we move deeper into the ODI World Cup cycle and as whack as it feels, it kinda makes sense. Given that there have been a variety of mainstream media yarns about the financial issues with NZC, this also marks a juncture in which NZC has made fairly clear moves to bask in a splash of cash.

Pakistan's tour of Aotearoa was brought to you by Carient Motor Oil - a Pakistan company.

Bangladesh's tour of Aotearoa was brought to you by Alesha Mart - a Bangladesh company.

NZC appeared to snap up a more lucrative broadcasting deal with Spark Sport, then sold sponsorship of Blackcaps cricket to foreign companies. One would assume that this extra dosh is being used to fund NZC's Youtube coverage that it rolled out this summer and more resources for women's cricket.

Would it be great if NZC weren't selling the Super Smash and Blackcaps cricket to a new fast food outlet every summer? Chur. Would it be great if NZC had a bit more creativity, imagination, values and mana? Chur. They needed the cash though and much like New Zealand Rugby, these organisations have a first priority of turning a profit. Which is a bit harder to do in the current climate, so lots of T20I cricket and foreign investment are the avenues leading to financial stability.

What was learned about the Blackcaps throughout the summer? Not much.

In their first summer of kiwi cricket coverage, Spark Sport would make it seem like kiwi cricket as hit some bonkers marker of popularity. That's not new though as Tests have enjoyed big crowds for a number of summers, all formats draw big crowds and our cricket coverage has always soaked up big views for five years or so. It's the Kane Williamson era, the golden era and that's been in action for a while.

Devon Conway's really good. No one would have quite expected Conway's ease at which he dispatched international bowlers to all corners - literally. Conway has dominated all formats in domestic cricket and as soon as he batted in his first T20I, it felt like Conway was at home. For a bloke who has dominated domestic cricket to the extent that Conway has, he was frothing with confidence and batting on the same pitches that he did in the domestic circuit - sometimes days or weeks prior to an international.

For Conway and the other fresh Blackcaps who emerged, it was the perfect situation to enter international cricket. None of this is thrown up to diminish the performances of such players, it merely sets up the major wrinkle of intrigue moving forward. We know that the Blackcaps bully teams in Aotearoa and that they have a lovely team culture, creating the conditions for new players to perform. Now we get to see which of these lads are genuine international prospects.

Take everything you absorbed about the Blackcaps from this summer and consider that Williamson has not played a T20I game overseas since November 4, 2018. Williamson has not played an ODI overseas since the World Cup final and his last Test overseas was in Boxing Day, 2019 in Melbourne.

The universe conspired for this period of cricket to unfold. None of this is due to human weirdness, desperation or selling out to the highest bidder. At a point of the Hero’s journey or the Fool's journey, there comes a time where one must take all that they have learned on their travels and put this into action. This tends to come when one returns home after their travels, needing to integrate their growth with their community and elevate themselves.

Last summer was the summer of transition and transformation, none of which foreshadowed what was to come in 2020. This summer was a calibration. Settling down into the new realm, where the Blackcaps best hit greater heights and we embraced the best depth we've ever experienced. The time has come for the Blackcaps to embark on their next wave of travels, to take their challenge to foreign lands and put their growth to the test.

Be free dear Blackcaps.