There isn't a hefty Kiwi County Tour crew this winter rolling through County Championship fixtures, however the stars aligned ahead of Matariki for Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy and Will Williams to all lace up in the same round. Phillips is back with Gloucestershire where he is primarily playing T20 Blast but holds it down in County cricket between T20 games. Ravindra (Durham) and Duffy (Kent) are in England with the wider Blackcaps touring party which saw them pick up County gigs, while Williams also pounced to snare a short-term stint with Lancashire.

As always, England is racking up cricket games across all levels and formats. England focus on the cash and want as much cricket packed into a short window as possible which has resulted in a lack of players, hence these kiwi lads have snapped up opportunities. All of them would benefit from longer stays and that would bolster the Kiwi County Tour yarns, but for now let's enjoy the gratitude of what went down during the week.

All four lads were pretty damn impressive. Ravindra opened for Durham with scores of 217 and 46* as he backed up Will Young's exceptional stint with Durham last winter. Ravindra's scores require a splash of context as he is the only one of these KCT lads playing in Division Two and runs weren't hard to find for either team; Durham put up 642/7dec and Worcestershire replied with 550, before Ravindra and his fellow opener finished the game not-out in Durham's second batting effort.

Durham had three centuries in their first stint with lads batting #8/9 hitting centuries along with Ravindra. Two other Durham batters passed 50. Worcestershire's first batting innings featured two centuries and another 50+ score, combining for five centuries and three 50+ scores in two innings. Ravindra was part of that, in fact he was the best and he continues to develop as an enticing opening batter.

Ravindra bowled 9 overs @ 3.11rpo as the seventh bowler used for Durham which sets up a funky comparison to Phillips. Promoted to the Blackcaps Test team as a middle-order batter who provides spin, Ravindra appears to have been surpassed by his Wellington skipper Michael Bracewell. Having a bloke who opens the batting for Wellington and now Durham tucked away down the order would bolster the Test batting line up, although Ravindra also shines as a pure opening batter.

Perhaps Ravindra's time away from the Test team will see him double down on his opening batting mahi with his overs of spin a bonus. At this stage of his development, his main asset is his skillset as an opening batter and we will continue to learn about how Ravindra is viewed by key decision makers heading into the summer.

Rachin Ravindra's scores to finish Plunket Shield, then in England...

Plunket Shield: 10, 3, 56, 23, 58, 39, 29*.

Touring England/County Championship: 21*, 217, 46*.

All signs suggest that Phillips is setting himself up as a pure all-rounder, similar to Bracewell. Along with scores of 125 and 59 for Gloucestershire, Phillips bowled 24ov @ 4.41rpo in his first bowling innings then snaring a cheeky wicket as Kent cruised to victory (2.4ov, 1w @ 3rpo).

This was Phillips' first County game after seven T20 Blast fixtures where he has scored the most runs for Gloucs so far. Phillips has 201 runs @ 33.50avg/133.11sr in 7 innings and also has 3w @ 7.62rpo. Last winter Phillips finished 2nd for all T20 Blast batters while also bowling in T20 Blast and County Championship.

Phillips was playing against Jacob Duffy and Auckland's Matt Quinn who shifted over to England a few years ago to settle into County cricket. Duffy took 3w @ 4.57rpo in the first innings before racking up 5w @ 3.88rpo in Kent's second bowling effort to set up a small chase for victory. Quinn also chimed in with 2w @ 3.70rpo in their second dig and neither dismissed Phillips.

There is immense funk in how Ravindra and Phillips are playing, but don't overlook Duffy who has crept into recent Blackcaps squads. Duffy's Blackcaps rise led to him averaging 30+ in all formats last summer which is generous given he took 6w @ 53avg in Ford Trophy and 13w @ 54.84avg in Plunket Shield. That's not a strong summer for Duffy, then again no Otago seamer averaged below 30 in Plunket Shield or Ford Trophy last summer.

Duffy snared 3w in two tour games before dipping out of the Test squad and has now exploded with 8w in his first dose of Kiwi County Tour mahi. The major factor in Blackcaps Test selection right now is taking opportunities and as Duffy is already in the mix, he will need to take wickets whenever he gets his opportunity for Aotearoa or else another frothing seamer will step in. What Duffy has done in England this winter suggests that he may be poised to make a leap after a decade of domestic grinding.

Canterbury's Will Williams on the other hand eats up Plunket Shield wickets for a giggle. Williams has 122w @ 22.69avg in First-Class cricket which compares nicely to Duffy's 218w @ 32.88avg and Williams is coming off another sizzling summer where he took 25w @ 21.52avg in Plunket Shield. Williams has been one of, if not the most consistent domestic seamer over the past five years and this was on display as he snared 2w @ 1.75rpo and 4w @ 3.04rpo in Lancashire's win over Warwickshire.

Williams may not be in the Blackcaps mixer right now and maybe he won't end up in that mixer, yet all he does is bag wickets. Williams is another bloke who has quietly gone about his domestic grind, steadily developing since his FC debut in 2012. While lads like Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson have commanded higher honours, bursting past Williams in the Canterbury pecking order, Williams keeps taking wickets and that's as good as a seamer can get.

The same will probably happen with Henry Shipley as he's showing fabulous all-round development and he has a unique frame. Williams will churn out his lovely mahi though and as he seems to be locked in for another game with Lancashire, perhaps this KCT stint will amplify his domestic dominance.

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Peace and love.