When Aotearoa's Blackcaps resume their international cricket shenanigans sometime soon-ish, we will be entering an enticing period where the seam bowling crop should be as deep as it has ever been.
T20 tournaments around the world tend not to offer much funk for yours truly, other than laying down some context for Blackcaps T20I matters.
Domestic cricket contracts have been flying across Aotearoa via carrier kea over the past few weeks as the six major cricket gatherers sorted out their list of players for the 2020/21 cricket season.
Aotearoa has an illustrious history of receiving cricketing assistance from those in Africa and we're now seeing the cycles change.
There’s a T20 World Cup coming up. Not sure when exactly since it’s becoming increasingly likely that the tournament in Australia in October will be postponed – with the IPL keen to take that spot on the ICC schedule instead because for one thing it’s much easier to host a domestic competition than an international one and then also, you know, because the BCCI usually tend to get their way with these things.
Kane Williamson is going to break all of New Zealand’s relevant batting records. If only you had a dollar for every time you heard somebody say that, right? From the most knowledgeable of commentators and pundits to Jerry down at the pub, Kane Williamson’s greatness is non-negotiable at this point.
Rightio then friends. We’ve looked at the disparity between spin and seam in New Zealand conditions and it’s equal and opposite disparity in foreign conditions. We’ve also looked deeper into the general bastard of a time that spinners have had in Aotearoa lately.
The last week saw NZC drop some award things and as mundane as that was, Northern Spirit's Katie Gurrey snatching two awards caught my eye as she doubled-down on being the best women's cricket prospect in Aotearoa.
Shane Warne’s numbers here are so immense that there is actually only one New Zealand spinner with more wickets within these shores than him: Daniel Vettori. Dipak Patel does tie Warney with 49 wickets but at an average that’s nearly double what ol’ flipper king managed.
Within Auckland Aces, Northern Districts Knights and Central Districts Stags sit the best spinners in Aotearoa and that doesn't leave much space for new growth.
Up top, the spin situation in Aotearoa was impacted by the Blackcaps summer of transition and transformation to tidy itself up a wee bit.
When lockdown began Sky Sport NZ were rounding down the final year of their domestic cricket coverage. As lockdown comes to an end we’ve now officially begun the Spark Sport Era.
Any discussion around Aotearoa's greatest cricketers ever will obviously focus on what those lads have done for the Aotearoa Blackcaps, understandably so.
The thing about Test cricket is that it’s a lot easier to win games at home than it is away. Sorta goes without saying, really.
As the leaves dip off their trees and the chilly breeze blows in days of rain, it doesn't look like this winter will involve much Kiwi County Tour cricket.
After the crisis comes the recovery, the picking up of the pieces and getting back to something equating normality. For Joseph Parker that means getting into the ring and fighting.
Since making his First-Class cricket debut as a 16-year-old , there have been moments when Corey Anderson showcased his prodigal talents.
On the 28th day of August, 28-year-old Devon Conway will be 29-years-old and he'll be eligible to represent Aotearoa on a cricket field.
The next Test challenge for Aotearoa's Blackcaps was India, having slid back to Aotearoa after being squeezed through the sieve that was a 0-3 sweep in Australia.
In hosting England for a couple Tests, there were minor examples of transition and transformation for Aotearoa's Blackcaps that would quickly become an explosion of changes to the Blackcaps Test squad and their playing 11.