Luteru 'Ross' Taylor announced that he'll soon be retiring from international cricket and many things are ending/beginning at the moment so praise God, Jah, Buddha and Allah for how cycles come around.
Aotearoa's Blackcaps are back for Test cricket in Earth's greatest country with the first of two Tests against Bangladesh to spark up 2022.
After bagging back to back Super Smash men's championships, Wellington Firebirds are 2-3 to start this summer's tournament.
Only one Super Smash women's team remains undefeated after Wellington Blaze grabbed a win over Otago Sparks.
In their first game of the Super Smash, Otago Sparks enjoyed 13 runs @ 130sr and 4w @ 5rpo from White Ferns all-rounder Hayley Jensen. No dramas without Jensen as Otago have won every game since and continue to be the funkiest team in kiwi cricket.
Two Super Smash Men's games went down prior to Christmas day with Northern sealing the epic win over Canterbury and Auckland taking a win from their trip down to Wellington.
Two Super Smash Women's games went down prior to Christmas Day with Canterbury defeating Northern and then Wellington defended home turf against Auckland.
Joseph Parker came in for his rematch with Derek Chisora weighing four and a half kilograms more than he had in their initial fight back in May. 113.9kg: the heaviest he’s ever been for a fight by a comfortable margin, topping his 111.9kg against Andy Ruiz in 2016
The stuttering start to Women’s Super Smash in Aotearoa has created a weird points table where three teams are undefeated (Otago, Wellington, Auckland) and two teams are yet to win a game (Central, Northern).
As we approach the good vibes only season, we dive deeper into Super Smash. The games flow swiftly and every few days over the peak Super Smash period, I'll pop up with five notes to ponder across both competitions.
Fighters say all sorts of wild things in the lead up to their bouts, particularly when those bouts are on pay per view broadcasts. Gotta take all of that chat with a grain of salt...especially when it’s Joseph Parker.
Ten wickets in a single innings will do some wild things to your stats. Almost a third of Ajaz Patel’s current Test wicket tally was taken in his eleventh match: the (heavy) loss to India at Mumbai, the city of his birth. The West Auckland Prince of Mumbai with 14 wickets in that one.
With a home World Cup lurking on the horizon, it's safe to say that this is a massive summer of Aotearoa women's cricket.
In pondering how to wrap up the Women's Super Smash action from the past weekend, another Otago Sparks win and Central Hinds loss signaled two teams heading in two different directions.
After a gritty draw in Aotearoa's first Test vs India, the trip down to Mumbai for the second Test didn't quite pan out as well.
Earlier this year I wrote about Otago Sparks optimism as they came out of last summer with a 3-17 record across Hallyburton Johnston Shield and Super Smash. This summer the vibe is vastly different and the seed of optimism has started to sprout into a fun kiwi cricket team.
Another game of international cricket and another opportunity to see Aotearoa's Blackcaps showcase all the same traits that have been instrumental in success across all formats.
Two games into the Men's Super Smash and two very different trends popped up as Finn Allen led Wellington to victory over Canterbury and CD defeated Otago thanks to T20 batting from Greg Hay and Dane Cleaver.
Wellington and Otago started the Women's Super Smash with wins this weekend as Amelia Kerr and Suzie Bates continue to bounce back from a tricky starts to 2021.
Northern Districts wrapped up the Plunket Shield's first stanza with a hefty win over Otago and Aotearoa cricket now moves into a limited overs extravaganza.