Mark Chapman looked like a fish out of water, Colin de Grandhomme looked like a 2nd XI slogger and can Tim Southee still take wickets? Not that this is their fault, we all know who is to blame for another Blackcaps capitulation on the big stage.
Late in the seventh round of their heavyweight title fight, Luis Ortiz had Deontay Wilder on the ropes. Having sort of slumbered through the first few rounds, Wilder had stepped it up by dropping Ortiz in the fifth but late in the seventh he got rocked.
Tom Walsh was already guaranteed the gold at the World Indoor Championships when he stepped up to put his final shot. His first attempt alone would have been enough to win the competition by 69cm… and this was a deep field of dudes.
Henry Nicholls ain't scoring runs, Mark Chapman is apparently Mr Fix It, Ish Sodhi is dominating and the Blackcaps need to win the next ODI vs England.
Aotearoa got utterly sizzled by England in the second ODI and the joy of Mark Chapman making his debut can't overshadow weird coaching decisions from you know who.
Ish Sodhi got a call up to the Blackcaps for the first ODI and maybe Todd Astle wasn't quite at full fitness, or maybe Lesson just created another weird situation that has confused matters.
Auckland Aces were too slick for Central Districts Stags in the Ford Trophy final, with their big guns leading the way in the business end of the season.
Blackcaps are hot off of dominating West Indies and Pakistan, England are hot off of dominating Australia in ODI cricket. We're looking at a big ol' hum-dinger of an ODI series folks.
Aotearoa's Blackcaps lost the tri-series final to Australia, had a 1-4 record throughout the tri-series and lost both Eden Park games where they should have a unique advantage. Obviously Lesson's plan didn't quite work out.
The T20 tri-series will be all about the bowlers and which bowling group can execute at the cauldron of Eden Park. The best way to slow the flow of runs at Eden Park is wickets and Aotearoa ain't been taking many wickets.
Aotearoa's Blackcaps stumbled in a nutty T20 against Australia. It was a minor L and we'll learn a lot in this up coming T20 vs England.
Take a moment to absorb the bigger picture as the Blackcaps summer genuinely gets underway tonight.
I'll tell you straight up that mans like Tom Latham ain't been doing much. BJ Watling's been doing heaps though and George Worker? Well, yeah Worker's always going alright in domestic cricket.
As Lesson maintain their core group of cricketers across all formats, young players are being made scapegoats and are being promoted then dropped by the Lesson yo-yo. That folks, breeds fear.
Sara McGlashan has gone back to back in #KiwiWBBL glory and Thamysn Newton blazed a trail for kiwi youngsters sliding into WBBL cricket.
Mark Chapman's the trendiest topic in kiwi cricket right now and he may help the Blackcaps T20 team, this is all about the homies Lesson though.
Quit the jibber-jabber about fringe Blackcaps seamers, 'cos Blair Tickner is dominating and Auckland have unleashed another young seamer in Jamie Brown.
Sara McGlashan will take on Thamsyn Newton in the WBBL03 final, the #KiwiWBBL OG vs the #KiwiWBBL youngin'.
Australia and England have rather different ideas on international T20 selection to the Aotearoa Blackcaps, making this upcoming tri-series a funky test for kiwi cricket.
At this point it’s pretty redundant to make grand proclamations about Roger Federer. His latest Aussie Open win had to usher in a flood of new think-pieces about the man’s greatness but nothing really changed, we just updated the numbers a little.