It wasn’t all that long ago that Joseph Parker was sitting at a press conference in Auckland, Kevin Barry to his side, answering questions about his unanimous decision victory over Junior Fa. It was pretty much just two months ago.
The demands on the modern cricketer are pretty hefty. Bouncing around the world from team to team, from format to format, from domestic to international, from red ball to white ball. Expected to smoothly transition between all of them and perform at a high level throughout.
The least fun thing about summertime cricket in Aotearoa may be the lack of spin bowling.
The Plunket Shield is with Canterbury and the leaves are falling, meaning that it is time for another Plunket Shield All Stars team to be named.
The 2020/21 kiwi cricket summer has been all about Canterbury. Canterbury women won the Super Smash and Hallyburton-Johnstone Shield, the only female competitions to win while Canterbury men have added Plunket Shield glory to their Ford Trophy win.
The whispers from Wellington started to percolate. Another South African had made the move to Aotearoa and this bloke arrived with nothing promised to him, just a fresh start and a hope to play his best cricket.
And so the Aotearoa summer comes to an end with the Blackcaps bullying all cricketing tourists.
As the third and final T20I against Australia fell victim to rain, we continue on the journey of trying to figure out what's doing with Aotearoa White Ferns.