Neil Wagner ended his international career after being told he wouldn’t play the 1st Test vs Australia.
The left-arm seamer, who took 260 wickets in his Test career, was an important component of the Black Caps when he was at his peak, forming an amazing trio with Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
Neil Wagner’s retirement will leave NZ without someone to fill his role. We look at why replacing him will be hard:
1. Workhorses like him are hard to find
Workhorses such as Wagner are exceedingly rare in modern cricket.
Despite playing second fiddle to Tim Southee and Trent Boult throughout his career, Wagner appears to have lost his spot in the squad to Adam Milne, Matt Henry, and William O’Rourke in recent years.
Neil Wagner can work hard and keep going for a long time like few other players for his skipper.
This was Neil Wagner’s most charming quality: he maintained the same work ethic day after day.
2. His ability to hit the deck hard was unmatched
Neil Wagner was one of the few bowlers in international cricket who relied heavily on striking the deck hard and getting it to seam around when he pitched it fuller. Wagner’s ability to grasp what was underneath allowed him to extract everything the surface had to offer.
While his extensive first-class cricket experience was undoubtedly beneficial, Wagner’s ball-handling ability was unparalleled. Frequently asked to bowl at one-change, the left-armer took full use of the pitch.
3. A combo of left-arm pace and skiddy bounce is unheard of
Neil Wagner has the unique and deadly mix of being a left-arm seamer who could cause the ball to slide.
Wagner’s ability to get the ball to bounce from strange lengths and slip through when hitters least anticipated it damaged them the most. Australia’s modern-day batting great, Steven Smith, can witness to this truth. He spent the majority of his career as Wagner’s ‘bunny’.
There will be few batsmen in global cricket who are as relieved as Smith to see Wagner retire.
