In the aftermath of Australia's thumping Test-series win against New Zealand, Peter Roebuck is concerned about the state of the game, with some teams falling way behind the others. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, he hopes that New Zealand can arrest their slide.

New Zealand has found little comfort in these Test matches. It is not much consolation, but it is not alone in its suffering. Pakistan has imploded after its increasingly bad-tempered tour of Australia and the captain of that party has retired from international cricket.

Meanwhile, Dwayne Bravo, the rising star of Caribbean cricket, has said that he puts Trinidad and Tobago first on his list, Mumbai Indians second and West Indies third. So much for hope.

It's not a question of the top three or four sides coming back to the field. It's a matter of the rest meeting their challenge. New Zealand has fallen short and, like a struggling player, needs to identify and correct its weaknesses. For all the trans-Tasman rivalry, Australians will wish them well in this endeavour.

In the New Zealand Herald, David Leggat analyses the team the selectors have picked for the Trans-Tasman trophy against Australia.

Sinclair last played a test against England in 2008. His story is one of New Zealand cricket's most thumbed - two double hundreds and a 150 against Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini at Port Elizabeth. Those considerable spikes stand out among a pile of troughs and eventually he was dispensed with, only to return as a stop-gap for an ODI against the West Indies a year after his previous appearance. He has had a good season with CD, averaging 58; he has 29 first-class hundreds and a 48.81 average. The problem is: would you put your shirt on getting more runs from Vettori at No 6 or Sinclair anywhere in the order?

The reason for Australia's vice-captain Michael Clarke for walking out on the tour of New Zealand, has disappointed Chris Rattue and in the New Zealand Herald, the writer wonders whether the batsman would have quit an Ashes series?

But nothing life threatening is going on in this superstar moment, as far as we can make out. As embarrassed as Bingle is, this is hardly an overwhelming disaster. Clarke, a team leader, has important and well paid responsibilities to his country, teammates and the sports fans of New Zealand. Battle on through, pal.

I hope I am wrong but right now I doubt New Zealand have the goods to take a series from Australia. They know they will be judged on this series but a pass mark should not be a series win, writes Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday.

We expected Australia to be a class above the Black Caps and they were; we expected Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes to bowl fast and they did; we expected our batsmen to struggle with the pace of Tait and Nannes and they did; we expected Mitchell Johnson to continue to dominate our batsmen and he did; we expected Shane Watson to play just as well with his mouth as with bat and ball and he did; and we might just have expected Billy Bowden to have one of those moments and for that 'whoopsy' to favour Australia. He did.

	Can Brendon McCullum's form hold up against Australia? © AFP

The series against Bangladesh was not totally about the result because you simply don't lose to Bangladesh, writes former New Zealand opener Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday. New Zealand did not win in a fashion that would have alleviated any fears about the challenge of facing Australia. In fact, they probably have as many, if not more, concerns than before the game.

How are we going to get 20 wickets? Wellington and Hamilton in March will be good batting surfaces and, right now, the bowling lacks penetration. Perhaps dry, turning wickets are the way to go to attack Australia. After all, Vettori is our best bowler and Australia have no champion leg spinner any more.

How much do New Zealand need to improve to foot it with Australia? Plenty, writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald.

The gulf between Bangladesh and Australia is as wide as it gets in the international game. It's all very well for New Zealanders to grumble about seeing too much of Bangladesh, and not enough of, say South Africa or England.

New Zealand's position is not such that they can demand more frequent activity against the more moneyed, and successful nations. We are not that good right now and therefore have little appeal to those whose minds are preoccupied with making a buck.

	The man Australia regard as world-class © AFP

Bangladesh have been the entree before the main. Writing in the Herald on Sunday, Alex Malcolm gives an Australian perspective of their upcoming tour of New Zealand.

While the Australian public are largely ignorant of recent battles, and are wrestling with their own interest levels in the current one-sided summer against a hapless Pakistan and helpless West Indies, the Australian cricket team would be far less naive when it comes to the upcoming tour of New Zealand. The Black Caps always lift a cog for their trans-Tasman rivals, particularly in the limited overs format. Aside from the recent Champions Trophy final, the last three Chappell-Hadlee one-day series have been extremely competitive.

How can New Zealand win a test against Australia next month? Finding another bowler, reinforcing the top order, nabbing Shane Watson and Daniel Vettori's dual role are on Andrew Alderson's four-point plan. Read on in the Herald on Sunday.