Super Smash cricket is underway in Aotearoa with rain rubbing out most of the first game day between Northern Districts and Auckland, then Canterbury women and Otago men grabbed wins in Alexandra.
Outside of their T20 World Cup success, New Zealand's White Ferns went 3-21 this year across both formats and the Rose Bowl series loss offered a familiar feeling for kiwi cricket fans.
The Blackcaps T20 squad named to play Sri Lanka in three games starting this Saturday features Aotearoa's best young talent and it's the perfect opportunity to roll out a fresh T20 group after New Zealand struggled to hit their potential in T20Is this year.
The Blackcaps year of Test cricket has wrapped up and they finish 2024 with a 6-6 record, which holds steady at 7-7 in the World Test Championship where New Zealand is currently fourth.
No one should be expecting Aotearoa's White Ferns to win the ODI series vs Australia in Wellington but they have the opportunity to shake up women's cricket once again and move into a fresh phase full of confidence.
Otago is 6-0 after the first stanza of HBJ Shield after two wins over Northern Districts and there is a bonus Young All Stars team named featuring the best emerging players before entering Super Smash.
Canterbury is first on the Plunket Shield ladder and second on the Ford Trophy ladder with Aotearoa's strongest concentration of young talent leading their mahi.
Rhys Mariu is piling up runs and he isn’t alone as a youngster shining in Plunket Shield as Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Matt Fisher, Will Clark, Luke Georgeson, Max Chu and Adithya Ashok all impressed in the last round.
An English dose of reality has smoked Blackcaps and it serves as a word of warning for New Zealand Cricket with White Ferns hosting Australia for an ODI series later this month.
Defending Hallyburton Johnstone Shield champions Otago have maintained their perch at the top of the ladder this season after a 4-0 start.
New Zealand's loss to England in Christchurch saw them slide back into their status-quo and perhaps some expectations need adjusting given how different the tour of India was compared to nearly everything else Blackcaps have done in recent years.
Rhys Mariu hit another century as Canterbury captain, while Brett Hampton and Ben Pomare blasted lots of sixes for Northern Districts.
Bella James is quietly stacking up big runs for an Otago team that is undefeated in HBJ Shield.