The Test summer began a very long time ago with a couple routine wins against the West Indies, took a long break so that fellas could give a white ball a good whack, then resumed with an instant classic series victory against England.
Jokers in the respectful sense, that is. There are no muppets at the very top of the heavyweight division, despite what Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder might make a few of them look like, and there are always plenty of willing scrappers out there.
Lockie Ferguson had another brilliant Plunket Shield campaign and he wasn't even close to being the best seamer this season.
Ish Sodhi's willow helped save a Test for Aotearoa after being overlooked because of his batting and the Blackcaps are a lovely Test cricket team, in Aotearoa.
The judges scored it 118-100, 118-110 and 119-109 which is probably more skewed than it needed to be but nobody’s gonna argue that the judges gave him a raw deal on the result. AJ was too good. He was better on the day. Parker said so himself.
It’s so close now you can almost smell it. The squeak of the canvas, the thump of the gloves as they pound against flesh and bone. The roar of the crowd. Anthony Joshua against Joseph Parker at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in front of 80,000 people and millions more watching on television.
England got a hiding from Aotearoa's Blackcaps in the day/night Test at Eden Park as Aotearoa's best cricketers again dominated on home soil.
Well now that was unexpected. The only thing crazier than the Blackcaps skittling the English for 58 is the idea that we could be disappointed at the end of it that the Cappies didn’t slice them off for less.
Martin Guptill has been called up as injury cover for the Blackcaps first Test vs England and there's still a focus on where Todd Astle will fit in.
Todd Astle's been called up to the Blackcaps Test squad to face Englan because of his batting, while BJ Watling and Jeet Raval have been struggling in Plunket Shield cricket.
Richie Benaud used to have a small list of rules for cricket commentary. One of the all time great voices, mimicked and parodied almost as much as he was beloved, when Richie The Great Man spoke, people listened.
Alright amigos, we’ve already taken a good punt at the Blackcaps and their batting abilities over the kiwi ODI summer so now it’s time to cast attention towards those purveyors of the round-arm arts, the bawdy bowlers.
Rrecency bias tends to shadow a lot of sporting assessment so it’s easy to forget that the Blackcaps won eight ODIs in a row before the Poms rolled up. So how did the lads stack up when you take the whole home summer and slide it under the microscope? That’s what we’re gonna find out.
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.