The Black Caps will take on the West Indies in the third ODI on Wednesday, after going down in the second one dayer - which was shortened to 28 overs due to rain. Given that the first ODI was washed out completely, the Black Caps are now in a do-or-die situation, and they will be desperate to put their efforts so far this summer behind them.

While they haven't been playing badly, they've struggled to capitalise on their home ground advantage, especially in the two Tests where all they could manage were draws.

There are several players in the team who need to step up and start scoring runs, because thus far we've relied too much on one or two players to score the runs, and then hoped for some serious tail-wagging. It's time the Black Caps stopped having to rely on those few who do step up. There are eleven players in the team, and they all need to go out there and do their job.

The West Indies have a similar problem, where they rely too heavily on Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul, while the rest of the guys seem to coast by on the efforts of the big three. It was an impressive finish to the second ODI, and the way they fought back to claim victory was great to watch, but what they were effectively playing was a slightly extended T20 match - which they are traditionally good at. Had the game gone the full fifty overs, the story may not have been the same.

Which brings us to our next point - why the hell do they cut the games down to such a ridiculous amount of overs? It's crazy that instead of playing 100 overs of cricket, we get short changed to less than 60. Whatever happened to postponing the game until the next day? At least that way we get the full game, not just a shortened waste of time.

Hopefully the New Zealand weather can clear up for the remainder of the summer, and we'll get to watch some proper cricket.

There's a bit of good news, though. The Indian cricket board has requested that they extend the Indian tour to New Zealand by adding an extra Test. It would be crazy for the New Zealand cricket board to refuse this, as we all know the Indians carry a huge financial weight behind them which could really benefit New Zealand cricket. It would be great for the Black Caps to get some more Tests under their belts, especially against the in-form Indian side.

Let's hope the NZ cricket board do the right thing, and accept the deal.