A mix of the good, bad and ugly

The New Zealand home season has ended and the verdicts are out on what sort of a summer it's been.

What did we learn from the visits of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia? asks David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald.

That there are problems at the top of the order - and settling on the most competitive and viable top six - and, more latterly, with the new ball bowling. Nothing new in that.

When they sit down to do their season assessments, New Zealand's management will conclude the national side remains solidly competitive, if a shade inconsistent, in the shorter forms of the game, but still well outside the top echelon when it comes to the five-day version. Nothing new in that either.

Adam Parore says he's feeling "under-whelmed and short-changed" by the 2009-10 season.

I suspect New Zealand are going to have to get used to playing more often against the "have-nots", such as Pakistan and Bangladesh - both of whom we play again next season - rather than the "haves" which is a shame for both the New Zealand cricket public and the state of our national side.

Given our current status on the world pecking order and that we can no longer attract better nations regularly; and allowing for similar results from the system that produces cricketers, what sort of expectations might a fellow hold dear and whisper into the pillow at night? asks Jeremy Coney in the Dominion Post.

Turning his attention towards domestic cricket, David Leggat says Northern Districts, winners of the one-day title and the Plunket Shield, were easily the best side.

It is rare for one province to dominate and so it proved, with Central Districts grabbing the HRV Cup as Twenty20 champions and earning a trip to India for the lucrative Champions League later this year.

But overall honours lie with the Hamilton-based province, who beat Auckland in the one-day final at Colin Maiden Park on a sunlit evening in February, then waltzed through the Plunket Shield, winning by 16 points on the back of six outright victories from 10 matches.