There's so many bits and pieces of kiwi cricket floating around at the moment that I'm going to take a minor detour from the normal structure and jam various topics in here.
Today, Aotearoa's White Ferns wrap up their ODI series vs South Africa and should be rather desperate to avoid a series sweep.
With seven games rolled up, Devon Conway has cruised into 1st spot for Ford Trophy runs and that means that right now, Conway is the leading run-scorer in each of the Ford Trophy, Plunket Shield and Super Smash.
With Aotearoa baking in sun, there were plenty of runs on offer in the Ford Trophy's return as all teams scored 250+ runs featuring Auckland Aces and Canterbury both scored 300+ and Otago Volts blasting 400+.
Forget the Blackcaps and any dramatic thoughts with regards to the lads, there are greater issues at the moment with Aotearoa's White Ferns.
Two T20I games at Eden Park and two losses for Aotearoa's Blackcaps.
On Friday, Aotearoa's Blackcaps embark on the nek phase of their World T20 journey.
Like their Blaze wahine, Wellington Firebirds are Super Smash champions and as has been the case for the past few seasons, Hamish Bennett and Devon Conway swept through the Super Smash like a saviour sussing things out.
The past few days have seen an Aotearoa White Ferns one-day squad named and Wellington Blaze snare an awkward wee win in the Women's Super Smash final.
In awaiting news of the Blackcaps T20I squad to face India, there was a sense of anticipation to where the T20 pieces would fall from the ol' mate Mr Chief Selector.
Three teams are left in the 2019/20 Super Smash, meaning three teams are kickin' back bypassing recreational drug tests.
Tucked away behind Test cricket and any other cricketing fluff, has been Super Smash shenanigans and now we are approaching a T20I series vs India where the relevance of Super Smash activity explodes.
Yuck. That’s disgusting. This kind of filth needs a parental warning or something. But then we knew these statties weren’t gonna be up to much because we watched those games, we lived the humiliation.
Wholesale changes, even after a rather soul-snatching swept series in Australia won't happen for Aotearoa's Test Blackcaps.
Neil Wagner. What a champion that man is. Probably the only kiwi bowler to come out of this series with their reputation enhanced (other than Jeet Raval), although Tim Southee deserves more credit than he’s probably gotten. Aaaaaaand that’s about where we run out of happy things say.
The best batsman in Aotearoa can't play for Aotearoa and a team stacked with T20 troopers is struggling to win a Super Smash game.
For many, the bubble has burst. Aotearoa's glorious Blackcaps, world renowned for being good enough to bully touring teams within the land of the long white cloud and sporadic moments of the extraordinary, leave Australia with what can only be described as a horrible 0-3 series sweep.
Men's and women's Super Smash teams should be paying attention to whatever their Wellington adversaries are up to as both Wellington teams (Firebirds and Blaze) are sitting on top of their respective ladders.
Aotearoa's lovely Blackcaps who try so hard on the cricket field are 0-2 in Australia and with the Aussies talking up a series sweep, we are approaching an intriguing gauge game for the Blackcaps.