What a difference a year makes, huh? Aotearoa are grinding through a lost Test series against England and as everything fell their way for World Test Championship glory, the Blackcaps have since tapped into the bad juju that has crippled all things White Ferns. So much has changed in a year and hopefully the winter solstice Matariki vibes swing things in favour of Aotearoa, although this pocket of English enthusiasm is something kiwi cricket fans know well.

Fresh after the 2015 World Cup, England hosted Aotearoa to spark up their new cricketing era. The cricket was expansive and entertaining as England forgot about their usual melancholy to embrace the funk. Here we are again watching England emerge from another round of reviews with all sorts of vibrant energy.

Aotearoa head into the third Test down 0-2 and despite using 18 different players across the World Test Championship, the kiwis keep losing when they bat twice. This is a long way off NZ Warriors territory where so many different people have been employed to get similar results - a key indicator of cursed mahi. No matter which team Aotearoa rolls out right now, they still manage to compete and fall short.

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Two blokes stand above the pack as far as keeping Aotearoa in the first and second Tests to provide compelling Test match cricket. Trent Boult leads the kiwi bowlers with 12w @ 24.50avg, headlined by his 8w in the second Test and taking Boult to eight consecutive Tests in which he has taken 4+ wickets. 2021 was Boult's best year of Test bowling (16w @ 20.62avg) and halfway through 2022, Boult is enjoying his second best year of Test bowling (21w @ 22.2a8avg)

Daryl Mitchell is also having a fabulous time in a losing outfit, with 373 runs @ 124.33avg (2 x 100, 1 x 50) from his 4inns. Mitchell is joined by Tom Blundell (240 runs @ 60avg) as the only kiwis who have scored 200+ runs in this series and the funky trend here is how Mitchell elevates his mahi as he rises up the Aotearoa cricket ranks. Mitchell scored runs on his Test debut and currently averages 59.69 after 11 Tests, along with snapping up his opportunity to open at the T20 World Cup last year.

Ah, the T20 World Cup. Since making their third major tournament final in a row, Aotearoa has battled an increasing amount of niggle. The tour of India saw Ajaz Patel's Mumbai magic overshadow much of this niggle as Kane Williamson started his battle against the dark arts of injury and the Blackcaps dipped further into their bag of depth. This flowed into the summer where lots of small details or events went against the Blackcaps, some of which is simply bad luck and some stems from decision-making that wasn't quite as crisp as it had been previously.

When everything is flowing nicely, decisions are easier to make and even if a decision is wrong it might not matter. When paddling against the tide, small decisions are illuminated and then stack on top of each other. This tour of England has seen Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson suffer injuries, while the only thing flowing is the pandemic flu through the kiwis touring party. 18 players have been used in the WTC and 14 players have been used for these two Tests against England.

As much as we love Aotearoa's cricketing depth, the more this depth is used the less conducive this is with winning games of cricket. Ponder the impact of Williamson's absences as Aotearoa not only misses their skipper and best player, this impacts Tom Latham's batting as well; his 44.27 batting average under Williamson's captaincy falls down to 31.07 as captain.

Williamson's absence impacts Tim Southee's bowling as well for example. Southee averages 24.10 under skipper Williamson and 36.37avg under Latham. Latham and Southee are two of Aotearoa's best players and their mahi is directly impacted by Williamson's presence as captain, let alone Williamson's standing as a legendary batter. Small factors impact other pockets of the team and any dip away from the 1st 11 changes the equation.

When paddling against the tide, highlighting individuals who are struggling is easy. The series is already lost and I don't find individual form interesting right now, far less intriguing than finding out what Blackcaps mana looks like. Aotearoa clawed their way to the top of the cricketing world through cricketing mana as they pounced on advantages, applied grit through adversity and represented Aotearoa to the fullest via their cricket.

Down 0-2 and with England buzzing, Aotearoa are playing for their mana. This has been evident in how they have gained positions of strength in both Tests so far but inconsistency and fragility have hindered Blackcaps Test performances over the past year. This series and WTC hope have vanished, so what does Blackcaps mana look like at this juncture?

Sussing out some Blackcaps mana at this juncture feels important because of how scattered Blackcaps cricket is mid-way through 2022. ODI/T20I squads were announced for the European tour and if 18 players have been used in the WTC, these white ball squads take us closer to the 30-bloke mark of Blackcaps depth. Everyone is getting a crack at Blackcaps cricket.

As noted over the summer, this depth is new and low key amazing. The volume of players and various squads also provides a scattered vibe, which when combined with Aotearoa winter sports schedules could hinder Blackcaps relevance. Hearty cricket fans will watch games overnight, check scorecards and dive into who did what. That’s what loving cricket is all about.

Now is as good a time as any for casual fans to tap out, if they weren't already. Casual fans don't need to buzz about the ODI/T20I European tour diet, they can tap back in ahead of the T20 World Cup. Take a break, enjoy the variety of sport on offer and know that a T20 World Cup will be followed by a home summer. By then the Blackcaps will concentrate their playing group back down to the top-tier talent for the best Blackcaps product, in the most visible window.

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Peace and love.