HBJ Shield served up another double-whammy of cricket last weekend with Auckland and Wellington grabbing wins on both days, while Canterbury and Central split their weekend series.
Canterbury Magicians are the only women's Super Smash team to interrupt the Wellington Blaze dynasty and their second championship in three seasons came with a young twist.
Aotearoa's Blackcaps had their first innings propped up by a delightful knock of 138 from Tom Blundell, dragging the kiwis back into a contest against England.
Northern Brave have won back to back Super Smash championships, defeating Canterbury in both finals and delivering a bunch of funky storylines.
Last summer Northern defeated Canterbury in the Men's Super Smash final and these two teams are locked in for another final after Northern bumped Otago out in Thursday's elimination final.
Canterbury defeated Otago in the Women's Super Smash elimination final on Thursday, setting up a home final for the Cantabs against Wellington.
Canterbury and Otago stormed up the Super Smash ladder with four wins in their last five games, putting Canterbury straight into the big donnie final while Otago host Northern.
After losing both games against Otago last weekend, Canterbury wahine will be eager to bounce back in their Super Smash elimination final on Thursday in Dunedin.
Not much about this summer has felt normal for folks across Aotearoa and as the sun battles pesky rain, the first dose of Test cricket this summer arrives with Blackcaps hosting England at Bay Oval.
Wellington Blaze have won four of the past five Super Smash championships and are 8-0 this season, undefeated across their last 18 games.
Papatuanuku and Ranginui dominated this weekend's action of Men's Super Smash, winning two games to leave Canterbury and Otago with victories over Central.
Papatuanuku and Ranginui dominated this weekend's action of Women's Super Smash, winning two games to leave Canterbury and Otago with victories over Central.
Ahead of their tour of Pakistan, Blackcaps made a few tweaks to provide a fresh Test and ODI group. This freshen up was part of a wider Blackcaps pivot as a few lads retired and others gave up their contracts to drift off into T20 oblivion.
Joseph Parker had a decent wee victory on the weekend. The kiwi heavyweight took on Englishman Jack Massey in his latest bout and took him out over ten rounds via a comfortable unanimous points decision
Two mid-week Ford Trophy games were on offer yesterday as Northern grabbed a win over Otago and Auckland defeated Wellington.
Women's Super Smash enters a funky phase with the White Ferns departing, Aussie imports arriving and hearty domestic cricketers improving.
Since the 2016 T20 World Cup, White Ferns have not made the semi-finals of the next four World Cups. That's two ODI World Cups and two T20WC in which Aotearoa has dipped out of the upper echelon of women's cricket, now they are preparing for a T20WC in South Africa.
This stage of the summer is a lovely spot to check in with the best youngsters in Super Smash while also sprinkling some Ford Trophy context on top.
Canterbury women are the only team competing with Wellington at the top of the Super Smash ladder and also lead HBJ Shield, with players dominating both competitions.
The wonky ol' summer of 2022/23 continued this week as Ford Trophy games slowed down a sizzling streak of Super Smash cricket.