When the New Zealand A cricket team has three wins and a draw in four games against Australia A, something good is happening in the Blackcaps pipeline. Aotearoa A won the second unofficial Test of their Aussie tour and this game was a day/night affair further north in Mackay. Batting first the kiwis put up 277 runs with Nick Kelly offering a staunch 64 runs to steer Aotearoa A to a competitive first up score.

Australia A managed 275 runs in reply. Jacob Duffy, Sean Solia, Will O'Rourke and Adithya Ashok took 2 wickets each. Scott Kuggeleijn and Dean Foxcroft snared a wicket each. Solia and Foxcrot then had knocks of 50+ runs in supporting roles to Bruce who finished not-out on 105 with Aotearoa A dismissed for 299 (Mitch Hay didn't bat).

Australia A needed 302 runs for victory and were dismissed for 233. Kuggeleijn and O'Rourke snared 3w each, while Duffy and Solia took 2w each.

NZ A won the first game by 225 runs and the second game by 68 runs. This follows a win by 3 wickets in the first game last summer and then a draw in the second game. Both teams suffered injuries mid-series, both teams had various 'A' level players unavailable and both teams enjoyed fixtures in home conditions. Aotearoa had three wins, Australia had none.

NZ A had a win over Australia A last week in Brisbane - their second win in three games this year against the Aussies.

Check in with the best performers and form guide.#Blackcaps #PlunketShield #CricketNation https://t.co/EglVI08bUG
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) September 3, 2023

Here are the best performers for both series...

NZ A vs Australia A - in Aotearoa

Best batters

Tom Bruce: 182 runs @ 45.5avg, 1 x 50
Dean Foxcroft: 131 runs @ 32.7avg, 1 x 50
Henry Cooper: 125 runs @ 41.6avg, 2 x 50
Cole McConchie: 103 runs @ 51.5avg, 1 x 50

Best bowlers

Scott Kuggeleijn: 9w @ 28avg/3.7rpo
Logan van Beek: 7w @ 19avg/2.8rpo
Will O'Rourke: 4w @ 34avg/4.3rpo
Sean Solia: 2w @ 58avg/3.8rpo

NZ A vs Australia A - in Australia

Best batters

Tom Bruce: 221 runs @ 73.6avg, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
Sean Solia: 198 runs @ 49.5avg, 2 x 50
Nick Kelly: 129 runs @ 32.2avg, 1 x 50
Scott Kuggeleijn: 114 runs @ 38avg, 1 x 100

Best bowlers

Scott Kuggeleijn: 13w @ 17.9avg/3.7rpo
Sean Solia: 9w @ 12.5avg/3.1rpo
Jacob Duffy: 7w @ 28.4avg/3.1rpo
Will O'Rourke: 5w @ 22.4avg/3.5rpo

Bruce and Kuggeleijn are the best kiwis from this four-game series. Bruce scored the most runs for Aotearoa A and is currently averaging 49.5 in First-Class cricket. After averaging 40+ in three of his first four FC seasons, Bruce then dipped below 40 for a few summers before a whopping 143avg in 2021/22. Last summer Bruce averaged 70.5 in the Plunket Shield before leading Aotearoa A for runs against the Aussies.

The Kuggeleijn yarn follows on from first game's debrief with 4w in Mackay. Including his debut Test appearance and a Plunket Shield fixture, Kuggeleijn has 12 consecutive FC innings with wickets. Kuggeleijn has taken 3+ wickets in five of the eight innings against Australia A and none of this could have been forecasted last summer as Kuggeleijn finished the Plunket Shield with 7w @ 54.4avg.

Bruce and Kuggeleijn sit in the same bracket of mature depth options for Blackcaps. Solia is also in this mix as a top-order lefty and while Cole McConchie isn't in this series, his recent rise through the Blackcaps pipeline highlights how these experienced lads are viewed by Blackcaps leaders. Duffy can also be added into this equation as further seam depth and even a fresh lad Kelly is closer to this mature bracket than a young phenom.

Blackcaps rely on these cricketers to plug holes during a series or a summer. It's far easier to embrace that when there is also development of youngsters. Ashok and Foxcroft returned to the 'A' mixer after a stint with the Blackcaps. Both snared wickets and Foxcroft had a 50+ knock as well, which is impressive considering how they played in UAE and then England before tasting Australian conditions.

Before missing the second half of the Mackay game, Hay replaced Cameron Fletcher as the wicket-keeper. Hay had a knock of 39 runs and the 23-year-old Cantab also scored 43 in his appearance for Aotearoa A earlier in the year. Hay has a FC average of 42.6 and despite Muhammad Abbas struggling for runs in Mackay, he is 19-years-old with a FC average of 40.3.

The sneaky lad in the youngster group is 22-year-old Will O'Rourke who was among the leading wicket-takers for NZ A in both series, even though he played just one game in both series. O'Rourke missed the first game in Brisbane and then took 5w in Mackay, finishing this home/away series against Australia A with 2+ wickets in all four innings.

O'Rourke took 23w @ 32.6avg in the Plunket Shield last season to finished tied-fourth for wickets. This is aligned with his FC career record of 41w @ 30.14. While it would be fabulous for O'Rourke to instantly average below 30 in his first few seasons, O'Rourke is still taking wickets with hefty workloads which bump up his average. O'Rourke was the only Canterbury bowler to register 200+ overs in Plunket Shield last season, while Duffy and Will Somerville were the only lads to churn out more overs for all teams.