For a bloke that is among Aotearoa's fastest bowlers, Ben Sears is currently creeping under the radar. Sears was with the Blackcaps T20I outfit for their European excursion but dips out of the squad for the West Indies phase as Aotearoa moves towards their T20I 1st 11, making this the perfect time to take stock of slick Sears mahi.

vs Scotland: 1w @ 9rpo, 1w @ 6.25rpo.

vs Netherlands: 3w @ 5.5rpo, 0w @ 7.50rpo.

Sears got his first dose of T20I cricket when he toured Bangladesh last year and his six games at this level have all been overseas. This seems like a solid development wrinkle with Sears exposed to Bangladesh conditions before settling into a domestic summer, then getting a crack in tours of Scotland and Netherlands. Sears has taken a wicket in four of these games and currently has a T20I record of 6w @ 22.66avg/19sr.

While not being the best kiwi bowler of this recent tour, Sears bowls fast and has a record of snaring lots of wickets in domestic cricket. Sears is the most unique Blackcaps bowling prospect right now and his T20I opportunities stem from a fantastic few years of Super Smash bowling...

2018/19: 6w @ 18.16avg/15sr.

2020/21: 9w @ 16.77avg/14.6sr.

2021/22: 13w @ 20.23avg/14.3sr.

Sears is a 24-year-old fast bowler with a T20 record of 34w @ 19.38avg/15.3sr. Flashes of that were evident in his recent Blackcaps mahi, although Sears has been more than a T20 monster on the domestic circuit. This summer Sears bowled 104 overs in Plunket Shield cricket and took 18w @ 23.27avg, finishing as Wellington's second leading wicket-taker.

Availability is the best ability, especially for fast bowlers and this was the second First-Class summer in which Sears bowled 600+ deliveries. Sears has bowled 400+ deliveries for three consecutive summers, taking 10+ wickets in all three and Sears has quietly racked up 46w @ 25.71avg in his FC career.

Sears took 3w @ 80avg in Ford Trophy last summer, mixed among impressive List-A pockets like the 2020/21 season in which he took 11w @ 24avg. LA cricket is Sears' worst format but his 28w @ 32.82avg is solid for a young fast bowler and when dealing with this craft, injuries and more volatile mahi are to be expected. Across his career in the three different formats, Sears has not had multiple poor seasons and any niggle in one format didn't bleed into another format.

Fresh off another Blackcaps stint, Sears will settle back into the Wellington system where the first stanza of Plunket Shield could feature plenty of Sears. Kiwi cricket fans should have Sears as a must-watch joker either in Wellington or when Wellington come to your region as he is likely to take another development leap this summer.

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