Okay, there are many with a dim view of T20 cricket. It doesn't especially set this pulse racing either, but it is a world title, of which New Zealand have won precisely one - the ICC Knockout final - effectively the Champions Trophy - in Kenya 16 years ago. It's in India in March. Why not?
3 More power to the new skipper's arm
Kane Williamson will take charge of New Zealand from the world T20. He's had a stellar year, rose briefly to No 1 test batsman. The (cricket) is his oyster. He doesn't think in yearly achievements. Series just roll on one after another in his book. Others think in calendar terms. You get his point but another 12 months just like the last will do nicely.
4 Sort out the DRS
What do these cricketers have in common: Nathan Lyon, Tom Latham, Udara Jayasundera? All were victims or central figures in Decision Review System snafus in the past month. The International Cricket Council is doing an in-depth study this year with the aim of tightening it up, making the job easier for the three umpires. Overdue.
5 Bring on the pink (1)
The sooner another pink ball test is played the better. Why? Because at present there's only been one day-night test and more anecdotal information is needed to put into the knowledge pot. New Zealand's loss in Adelaide was a rattling good three days' entertainment, and you haven't heard bowlers complain much about the pink pill. But it won't work everywhere, which brings us to ...
6 Bring on the pink (2)
Plans are being finalised for a round of Plunket Shield games under lights in mid-February. And there's a possibility for a test next summer, with Bangladesh in Hamilton mooted as a contender. New Zealand has been a frontrunner, courtesy of the Adelaide test. Being seen as willing to embrace new ideas, even if more money was shelled out to players to get it over the line, is not a bad way to be viewed. It mightn't work here, but it's worth a really good investigation.
7 A West Indian revival
Wasn't it amusing listening to Australians bemoan the West Indies' fall from grace. How they wished for a return to their old glories. You didn't hear much about that 15 years ago when they were being pounded from the Gabba to the Waca. Still, rumours of their demise should greeted with dismay. Their officialdom is appalling. They have an impressive man as leader in Jason Holder. So can a team be fashioned out of Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite and Jomel Warrican? A pivotal year ahead.
8 End of the Big Three
It won't happen this year, but just hearing chairman Shashank Manohar, an Indian, undercutting the wisdom of the India/Australia/England axis of world cricket domination - "bullying", he called it - was remarkable. To anyone with the novel idea of the ICC administering the international game with an even hand, it was music, however faint, to the ears. The sound you heard shortly after was the rubber hoses being applied to Manohar once the heavy mob got him behind closed doors.
