2018 was a brilliant year for the Blackcaps in Test cricket. Three series all won. Seven matches with only one defeat (four wins and two draws). All super competitive series which required crucial contributions from all number of players, from established batting veterans to previously uncapped spinners.
Unfortunately for our Kiwi wahine in the Women's Big Bash League, the two teams with two White Ferns each are chillin' at the bottom of the WBBL ladder.
As BJ Watling played another gritty knock down the order and then Colin de Grandhomme came out in the second innings in Christchurch's Boxing Day Test vs Sri Lanka to play a typically swashbuckling knock, you may have noticed something slightly different.
Unlike preparations for the Champions Trophy, it appears as though there is some legit planning going down ahead of the World Cup with the ODI squad to face Sri Lanka reflecting the highly competitive depth in the ODI format.
Aotearoa's favourite drink-running 12th man Matt Henry got a delightful Christmas present this year with another chance to run the drinks, cheer on the lads in the Boxing Day Test v Sri Lanka.
Busy times in the Women's Big Bash League with games coming every day around Christmas Day and that means that the best day to run through the latest performances, is Christmas Day.
The return of Super Smash cricket brought with it the return of Mitchell Santner, perhaps the weirdest kiwi cricketer in existence right now.
Boxing Day at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, is now the kiwi cricket dream and after toiling through an absorbing first Test, Aotearoa's Blackcaps will now be eager to flex in the second fixture vs Sri Lanka.
What a weird way to start the kiwi summer. From Tim Southee nibbling the ball around to batsmen from Aotearoa and Sri Lanka then dominating and a final day lost to rain, everything that we love and perhaps don't like so much was squeezed into the first Test of the summer.
Having run through Auckland Aces vs Northern Districts Knights and then Canterbury vs Otago Volts from an Aotearoa A perspective, things get even funkier when taking a geeze at Central Districts Stag vs Wellington Firebirds.
For the first two Test matches over in the UAE, Tim Southee had his feet up in the stands with a good book or perhaps a cup of tea as the brains trust of the Blackcaps decided he was the odd man out in a seam attack that needed to be shrunk to accommodate an extra spinner for the conditions.
Coming in hot off their Aotearoa 'A' excursion, Canterbury's Kyle Jamieson and Cameron Fletcher were in dominant form in their win over Otago Volts.
Perhaps my favourite cricketing idea to follow and discuss, is Aotearoa's involvement in Australia's Big Bash League.
With those Blackcaps not involved in the Sri Lanka Test series and Aotearoa 'A' cricketers flooding back into Plunket Shield, a funky window has been left open.
On the boundary during the first Blackcaps Test of the kiwi summer, in his standard edition Blackcaps cap alongside the best drinks-runner in the world Matt Henry, was Will Young.
On the back of a year filled with T20 struggles, it's no surprise that this has flowed into WBBL04 for our White Ferns.
Really, this one was never in doubt. Joseph Parker was always expected to win against Alexander Flores, probably not as easy as he ended up doing but you know what I mean.
Sri Lanka are back in Aotearoa to play a couple Tests and challenge an invigorated Blackcaps Test team that has casually won a series on foreign soil with new coach Gary Stead.
It’s nice when you achieve something that hasn’t been done for a long time. 49 years since the New Zealand cricket team last won a series away to Pakistan. This one was in the UAE but close enough.
Fresh off a Test series win against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates, Aotearoa's Blackcaps are back in the land of Papatuanuku and Ranginui to face a touring Sri Lanka team.