New Zealand's fast-bowling stocks have never felt as deep as in the last five years.
The team has always had one or two fast bowlers who are among the cream of the world's crop in every generation, like Richard Hadlee in the 1970s and 1980s, and the Tim Southee-Trent Boult partnership more recently. The current era is one where they have a large variety of fast bowlers with enough depth of experience across the three formats. So much so that they are well stocked in the department on the tour to Bangladesh despite several of the bowlers being away playing in the PSL and IPL.
Among the tourists is Nathan Smith, the 27-year-old quick, who, like many of New Zealand's fast bowlers of this decade, has provided glimpses of his ability in the limited opportunities he has got since his international debut in 2024.
Smith combined with Blair Tickner to defend 247 runs in the first ODI, in Dhaka. He was on a hat-trick early in the game, when he burst through the defences of Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto in the powerplay, and he rounded off the match by picking up Towhid Hridoy, to finish with 3 for 45. Tickner took four wickets. The health, depth and skills of New Zealand's fast bowling were on full display.
When Smith was handed new-ball duties for the ODI series, it was for the first time in his short career. It was the kind of responsibility fast bowlers crave. He followed up his two-wicket burst in the first game with a couple of controlled performances in the other ODIs, while Will O'Rourke has also bossed the powerplay.
"There is a lot of competition at the moment," Smith says. "Everyone that's coming in, it seems like they're having success as well. Like Tix [Tickner] had a bit of time out of the squad and he's taken a few four-fors and bowled really well lately. So there's a lot of competition. It's good, it brings out the best in all the seamers, I think. For New Zealand cricket to have that depth is great.
"No one's getting comfortable and everyone's trying their hardest to push higher and get the most out of their careers. We came over here with a slightly weakened side and we are still competing with a very strong Bangladesh side. It's a very cool time to be a fast bowler in New Zealand, because ultimately you can push each other and bring each other up along the way. It's really special what New Zealand's fast-bowling legends have achieved in their career."
Smith says he grew up aspiring to bowl like Southee, whom he used to copy while playing in his backyard. He says it was a proud moment for him when he took the new ball against Bangladesh in the ODI series, leading the attack, like his idol Southee, and more recently Matt Henry, have done.
Smith thinks the latter is a key figure in New Zealand's attack. "Now we are in a different era. It is probably more of a Matt Henry era, I think at the moment.
"When I first started my career I was just a young outswing bowler, so I tried to replicate a bit of Tim Southee. He was someone I looked up to, so that was really cool to be able to play with him before he retired.
"I take the new ball a lot in domestic cricket. It is something I aspire to do. I can be quite versatile and bowl in different phases of the game and play different positions, so that's something I pride myself on," he says.
Bowling in the heat of Dhaka was a completely different experience from the usual for Smith. He says that he has started to gather experience from bowling around the world, and that is helping him read conditions quite quickly.
"It is absolutely chalk and cheese from bowling at the Hagley Oval, which is the second bounciest ground in the world. It is just about adapting as quick as possible and trying to be effective on each wicket. I think as an international cricketer you face a lot of different conditions. This is my first time playing for New Zealand in Bangladesh, but I had an Under-19 World Cup here [in 2016].
"I have also played in Pakistan, UAE and England. As you go out and play, you are trying to assess that as quick as possible - you are trying to figure out what the length is on that wicket and what modes of dismissal are in play," he says.
Smith has got himself some big wickets despite his limited opportunities since his debut two years ago. He has dismissed Joe Root twice, and also taken the wickets of Babar Azam, Jos Buttler and Sean Williams.
"As a bowler you always want to get the best players out.
"Growing up, it was also just trying to be as good as I can be and then see where I get," he says. "I'm from a really small place in New Zealand called Oamaru. There are not many people who played international sports from where I am. So when you come up against these big guys, you want to put your best foot forward and hopefully get the better of them."
Oamaru is a town on the east coast of the country's South Island, about 110km up from Dunedin. Smith says he often tries to drop in at the Waitaki Boys School, where he spent his formative years.
"I definitely go back to my old school. There's a lot of kids in that school who don't know what's out there. They don't know the potential of what they can reach, so I keep in touch with a few teachers at that school and try to give back where I can. That's really important to me, because it's such a great community where I'm from. I hope that if I can give back a couple of cents, who knows where that could take them, really."
Two major influences in Smith's cricket career have been Rob Walter, the current New Zealand coach, and Wellington coach Shane Jurgensen, who was also Bangladesh's head coach between 2012 and 2014.
"Rob Walter was my coach at Otago when I started my career in 2016," Smith says. He was really influential in my formative years. He gave me a lot of responsibility with the bat and ball. He was the first coach to see the potential in my batting. He threw me up the order in some one-day and T20 games.
"He still has that backing in me, which is great. He helped me a lot through the first five years of my career. Now I've got Jurgo in Wellington. I can just lean on him. He is a very emotional and compassionate coach. He is someone I talk to often."
With New Zealand's tour of England coming up in June, Smith will be a candidate for the fast-bowling attack. He has spent time in county cricket in the last two years, picking up 57 wickets for Surrey and Worcestershire. The kind of volume of bowling a bowler takes on in that competition has helped him build tolerance and strength as a bowler, he says.
"I think when I first went over there, it was a lot of cricket. You play a four-day game starting every week, so it is a lot of bowling. But once you are in it, it's almost like you just get a bit of rhythm and you go. It's really good for your body as you are building up tolerance. You are building up that strength, which is really important.
"I have had two stints, which is great. Hopefully, if the schedule allows it, I'll get back over there in the near future but I think it is a great place, especially for your batting because you're batting almost every day. For a guy like myself, the more batting, the better. It only helps me when I bat more so I think that's probably the most beneficial thing."