Neil Wagner Retires

[Athlai]

Neil Wagner retires from international cricket

Neil Wagner has called time on his illustrious 64-Test career for the BLACKCAPS and will bow out following the Tegel Test series against Australia, starting in Wellington on Thursday

www.nzc.nz

Became one of our best ever and innovated Wagnerball

WAFG

 

[Athlai]

A good piece from the spinoff from 2019

In praise of Neil Wagner, the Black Cap who forges beauty out of brutality

Mark Reason says this merchant of intimidation is boring. Here is why he's wrong.

thespinoff.co.nz

When Wagner is at the top of his mark, the game becomes about ball vs body, and the story of Wagner’s wickets is so often the story of a batsman striving to avoid those two elements meeting and tangling themselves into a dismissal. There’s brutal arithmetic: he seems to just will wickets, as if he merely wants batsmen out more than they want to stay in — which, by the time he’s aimed 30 bouncers at an opponent’s ribcage, probably isn’t very much.

 

[Ghost75]

Awesome contribution to NZ cricket. If anyone from NZ was going to do a Jimmy Anderson and push on into his 40's my money would have been on him but looks like his bowling style was just taking too much out of him.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Odd way of putting it that he bows out after the series when the article says he's not selected for the first test and will be released before the 2nd.

Anyway, a player of great skill, energy and passion. He's been fantastic to watch, bringing a little bit of charisma to a media trained sports landscape.

 

[Chubb]

Odd way of putting it that he bows out after the series when the article says he's not selected for the first test and will be released before the 2nd.

Yeah this is what threw me, I thought NZC were being a bit self-indulgent given how important the series is but this is a better call.

 

[Bahnz]

It's been a wild ride following Wagner over the years. From initial excitement at the idea of having an SA nasty fasty with a FC average of 22, to befuddled annoyance when he started getting smashed out of the park by a 400 year old Matthew Sinclair, to sheer shock when he picked up a quintuple wicket maiden, to fury when his international debut featured the worst display of scramble-seam pies you could ever witness, to grudging tolerance when he started producing semi-consistence performances, to growing admiration when he repeatedly showed he could be relied on even when the rest of the bowling attack **** their pants, to sheer unadulterated love as he mastered Wagnerball and went on a wicket taking spree that would see him consistently in the top 10 ranked bowlers, contribute to test wins v every country save Australia and help win the WTC.

My favourite NZ bowler since I've been a cricket fan, the journeyman who never knew when to quit and who - through John Wick levels of sheer ****ING will - somehow became his adopted country's 5th highest test wicket taker. Watching his decline over the past 2 years has been sad to see, and we all know he should've pulled the pin after last year's series-levelling Rocky moment v England. But, if he does end up getting a victory lap in this series it'll be hard to begrudge him it.

 

[Flem274*]

With the special players, every ball is an event. Every ball in Wagner's prime was an event.

The march to his mark, the snarl as he ran in, the roar as he released the ball, the scream as the hapless world class batsman popped one up in the air and the reptilian call to the Gods when he caught it. The crying. Sometimes he openly laughed at his opponent as they trudged off.

Rinse and repeat for 12 overs.

My favourite bowler ever. He chose the toughest job in bowling and became a God. He was our third seamer and our spinner, our glorious day 5 specialist. The 12 over barrage.

We will see another Hadlee before we see another Wagner.

I love him and I miss him. Firmly the best kiwi bowler of his generation.

 

[Bahnz]

In the penultimate phase of his career I mentioned above (stretching from late 2015 to the WTC final) his figures read:

38 matches, 171 wickets at 23.66 (sr of 49), averaging 23 v Australia, 26 v England, 25 v SA and 32 v India (his worst figures v any opponent). Has any NZ bowler save Hadlee had such an extended run of excellence?

 

[jcas0167]

First saw Wagner in a list A final where he was bowling and Ian Smith was asking in the comm box when he would qualify for NZ. He looked handy but I didn't guess he become one of our all time greats. His passion and sheer grit makes you want to see him do well and has no doubt helped lift the rest of the side. I think that's what I'll miss most.

Still annoyed they didn't pick him for that day-night test in 2015.

 

[Athlai]

Wagner

By the numbers

Player	Span	Mat	Wkts	Ave	Econ	SR	5​	10​
N Wagner	2012-2024	64​	260​	27.57​	3.13​	52.7​	9​	0​

NZ's 5th highest wicket taker (Boult is 4th at 317 and Martin 6th at 233)
NZ's 4th best average (min 100 wickets, Boult 317 @ 27.49 4th, Collinge 116 @ 29.25)
NZ's 4th most wickets in victories @ 143
His average vs Australia is 23.04, for NZ that is 2nd only to Hadlee

During his Test career (2012 to present) he was the 8th highest wicket taker for pace bowlers (Broad, Anderson, Starc, Southee, Boult, Rabada, Hazlewood)

In this period only two left arm pace bowlers have taken more wickets (Starc and Boult, all averaged 27 with the ball)

Of the NZ pace trio (Southee/Boult/Wagner) he has the best away/neutral average at 28.41

 

[jcas0167]

....
Firmly the best kiwi bowler of his generation.

As Blocky predicted

 

[Bahnz]

Of the NZ pace trio (Southee/Boult/Wagner) he has the best away/neutral average at 28.41

Tbf, Wagner was almost always the one who got left out for tests in Asia, and his results in India and UAE were fairly meh by his own high standards. Completely nerfs Southee and Boult in Aus/SA, but was a distant second behind Boult in England.

 

[OverratedSanity]

As Blocky predicted

They hated him because he said the truth.

Ok, it was also because he was a weapons-grade dickhead, but still

 

[Athlai]

ICC test bowling all time has his peak at 56th equal with Anil Kumble

His contemporaries - Johnson 65th=, Southee 71st=, Jamieson 75th=, Boult 85th=, Starc 99th=

 

[OverratedSanity]

Neil Wagner retires from international cricket

Neil Wagner has called time on his illustrious 64-Test career for the BLACKCAPS and will bow out following the Tegel Test series against Australia, starting in Wellington on Thursday

www.nzc.nz

Became one of our best ever and innovated Wagnerball

WAFG

What a legend. Hard not to have tons of respect for someone who upends a century of conventional thinking by shunning boring off stump line and length bowling in favour of trolling batsmen out with pure throbbing anger.

 

[Athlai]

What a legend. Hard not to have tons of respect for someone who upends a century of conventional thinking by shunning boring off stump line and length bowling in favour of trolling batsmen out with pure throbbing anger.

Yeah it genuinely made for enthralling watching when he just came in and bowled over after over at a batsman's throat and gradually wore them down.

So much of this was on flat pitches with little in it for the bowlers. Our pace trio having relatively similar records doesn't really reflect the manner which they got their wickets in NZ conditions.

Boult and Southee would take advantage of a new ball, in swinging conditions, maybe getting something from the deceptively long grass on the pitch in the first session with the ball. But after 30 overs? The swing is gone, the ball ain't moving off the pitch, nice consistent bounce for the batsman to really fill in their boots after a hard morning's work.

And then Wagner comes on and just makes them uncomfortable for the rest of the day and jams out a few frustration wickets. Did they resist the barrage? Well great, 10 overs at the end of the day to look forward to against the swinging second new ball and a fresh Boult and Southee.

Stellar stuff.

 

[jcas0167]

Wagner v Wade.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1762282459176009862

Shortball masterclass v Smith.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1762145569810559246

 

[Bahnz]

Also, as Wagner's retirement ends any last faint chance that the three musketeers might return one last time, its worth celebrating again how ridiculous good these 3 were together:

In games were NZ's attack featured all of Southee-Wagner-Boult:
40 matches 535 wickets at 25.77, resulting in 24 wins and 8 defeats.

 

[Flem274*]

His Aus series gets attention because of where, but him getting Kohli, Dhoni and a few others in 2013 at Eden Park day 5 built the bowler and arguably gave the team belief they could beat anyone.

Also there was a wicket against England (Buttler?) where he set the bouncer field then threw the ball at him and wrecked his castle that was peak comedy gold. Wagner just laughed at him.

 

[Flem274*]

Also, as Wagner's retirement ends any last faint chance that the three musketeers might return one last time, its worth celebrating again how ridiculous good these 3 were together:

In games were NZ's attack featured all of Southee-Wagner-Boult:
40 matches 535 wickets at 25.77, resulting in 24 wins and 8 defeats.

I think Aus own about 5 of those defeats too.