Thread by @Mykuhl

At the moment, the #SuperSmash is the poor cousin to the global T20 competitions. And that's by design. NZC looked at the global market and said "trying to compete on this playing field will bankrupt us."

And so the SuperSmash is just a competition to bring through local talent.

There's nothing particularly wrong with that, and it has done its job to a degree. We've found a number of local players, for whom the SuperSmash has prepared them reasonably well for international cricket.

However, I can't help feeling that it could be much more.

One issue that the @BLACKCAPS have had over the years is that they've not gone so well in knock-out matches. Some of that is due to just not being as good as the teams they've been playing. But some of it feels like a psychological issue, too.

What if there was a solution?

Imagine if instead of having 3 knock out matches every year, the SuperSmash had 12?

Here's my proposal:

Instead of a round ribbon and final system - what if the SuperSmash was a small tournament league every year - a bit like the rugby 7's.

There would be 4 tournaments every year.

Each tournament would have 8 teams: the 6 regions, NZ under 19 and a guest team - invited by the host.

If an under-19 world cup was on (or similar) during a tournament, then the host would invite 2 guests.

Those guest teams might be an IPL or BBL team looking for some warm up matches. It might be an associate team's national side, like PNG, Samoa or Thailand. It might be a team like Ireland Wolves or Australia A. It could even be a full touring side playing it as a tour warm up.

Each tournament would run over 5 days. 3 days for pool play, day 4 for semi finals, and then finals day. It may be worth adding in minor place matches, too.

Ideally, the 5 days would line up with a public holiday, with the final on the public holiday Monday.

Each year there would be a Northern tournament, hosted by Auckland or ND with the other team being the co-host.

Central - hosted by CD and Wellington

Southern - hosted by Canterbury and Otago.

There would be 2 pools of 4, each featuring one host team.

The host and the co-host would be guaranteed 3 home matches. If the two hosts both made different semi-finals then each of them would play at home.

If they made the same semi final, then the team who topped their pool would play at home.

The host would hold the final.

The 4th tournament would be different. It would be run on Labour Weekend every year, and would be hosted by a Pacific Island nation.

This would be really important because it would allow NZC to apply for ICC global development money to find the tournament.

There's a very real chance that this tournament could become a big deal for supporters, with groups travelling to the islands to watch the matches.

It would allow the game to develop in Fiji, Samoa and the Cooks as their infrastructure would be improved and the profile raised.

There are a few advantages and disadvantages with this model, but I think balance is workable.

Advantages: more matches, more knock-outs, ICC money, Blackcaps available.
Disadvantages: neutral matches, only 3 guaranteed home games, potentially harder for TV schedules.

The last disadvantage is the biggest problem, and it's why this format can't happen in the next couple of years.

But, this is not an insurmountable problem, and the potential revenue from overseas markets might more than make up for any drop in local income.