That schadenfreude show
There's not many weeks that start with the simple joy of your rival's comeuppance for years of bad behaviour, and end with sympathy for Steve Smith, the strangest feeling since puberty.
#sandpapergate has delivered a complete change at the top of the Australian team, not to mention endless think-pieces on the team, and the nation's, culture and values. Life moves fast, and it seems we're at 'over-reaction' now. It's hard to keep up.
Now we're looking at months of reviews and culture change, which feels like a forced merger between Neil from The Young Ones and Sauron. Let's see if it works - frankly, a kinder, gentler Australian team would be weird. Who would we moan about then?
Anyway. The BLACKCAPS' tremendous win inside three days feels like a lifetime ago - our first night Test was superbly presented by NZC, despite the rain turning up right on 4.00pm Friday, when many fans would have been considering skipping off work to head along, and washing out Saturday. It was another Eden Park ripper, despite the obvious issues at that venue. Pink ball Tests are a winner, let's have some more please.
Thanks for reading - Richard
Godzone
Top Hurricanes booster and optimist John Campbell on his love of halfbacks and TJ Perenara. [stuff.co.nz]
Jim Kayes meets Ironwoman Danielle McKenzie, who's attempting the switch from the surf to the AFL. [Newsroom]
Dylan Cleaver power ranks Kane Williamson's 18 Test centuries. 108* v Sri Lanka at Hamilton should be higher for me! [NZ Herald]
Alex Braae podcasts with cricket and comedy genius Andy Zaltzman. Andy is a must-listen if you're into puns and extremely droll comedy [The Spinoff]
Andrew Alderson on how scandal delivers clicks. [NZ Herald]
Video nasty
This is basically The Godfather of 'never celebrate too soon'.
Offshore
cricket.com.au's Andrew Ramsey on David Warner's long rap sheet. Cricket Australia's media arm have done a fine job covering a difficult story on, erm, themselves [cricket.com.au]
Wondering what the hell reverse swing is anyway? Here's the history. [The Cricket Monthly]
What you're up to this weekend
The second BLACKCAPS v England Test starts at 11am today. That's Easter sorted, pretty much
The Big Fight happens from around 8.30am Sunday morning, don't forget it's daylight savings! WTH is going on with Parker's wardrobe this week by the way?!?
Good double header in the rugby union tonight, with Chiefs v Highlanders at 7.35pm in Hamilton, then Hurricanes v Rebels at 9.45pm from Melbourne's fantastically-named Rectangular Stadium. More stadiums should have a geometric naming convention
The Warriors go for four wins in a row against the Roosters at 7.30pm tomorrow night. It's time to decide if you can really afford to emotionally invest in this team again, gang
Bring back the gif
When you get bad news, but it's not your fault so you're not bothered.
