With the memory of squandered opportunities and a Test series lost to Australia still simmering away in our hearts and our stomachs, the very best of our summer game were honoured last night.
Would it be outrageous to suggest already that 23-year-old Melie Kerr is the greatest female all-round cricketer this country has ever produced?
I'm going to say it anyway, she is - Melie scooped the pool last night, including the Debbie Hockley Medal, and will continue to do so.
She is far and away ahead of the developing pack, excluding the achievements of the great Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine over the years, they have had outstanding careers, but Melie will break all records and she'll have to carry the White Ferns on her shoulders. All going well, she will be hailed for at least a decade to come.
Back to back! Melie Kerr is the Debbie Hockley Medalist two seasons in a row.
— WHITE FERNS (@WHITE_FERNS) March 13, 2024
Melie is the 2023-24 the leading ODI run-scorer for the WHITE FERNS as well as the second-leading T20I run-scorer, and the joint leading wicket-taker in T20Is. #ANZNZCAwards pic.twitter.com/FSbW40d8dE
Melie is a globetrotter these days, but she's been drinking Wellington water all her life, as has Rachin Ravindra who just happens to now be the youngest ever winner of the Sir Richard Hadlee medal, the ultimate, the creme de la creme.
Now, I'm not going to be cynical, but there was a certain irony that the Sir Richard Hadlee medal winner put down the Allan Border Medal winner on the final morning in Christchurch. But that was just a moment in time.
And Ravindra has had quite the summer with many moments. Since he announced himself on the biggest stage, an ICC Cricket World Cup in India, to the surprise but sheer delight of cricket's most demanding fans and strictest judges. Rachin Ravindra has become an item.
It's quite the thing to realise how much this youngster has loved and admired already throughout the cricketing world, most of whom have never seen him play in the flesh - they have a treat in store.
Personally, I don't know him more than to say hello and well done - but I'm keen to learn because just like Melie, his fellow Wellingtonian, he is very much the ticket going forward.
Following on from Ross Taylor, and being schooled by Kane Williamson, he is a Test number four to the core and he still hasn't worked out his preferred haircut.
Listen to Ian Smith's full interview with Rachin Ravindra below: