Cricket took Neil Wagner, who was born and bred in Pretoria, South Africa to New Zealand and he ended up playing 64 tests for New Zealand, finishing fifth on New Zealand’s list of all-time Test wicket-takers with 260 scalps at an average of 27.57.
Wagner idolised Allan Donald, who was called “white lightning,” but unlike his hero, Wagner never had the nasty pace or height, but he had heart, ceaseless energy, his undying passion, and an aim to prove everyone wrong. The 38-year-old is still playing domestic cricket for Northern District.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Wagner opens up about how he misses intimidating the batters, bowling bouncers, winning the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) and what it means for the New Zealand cricket team, who demolished India 3-0 on the Indian soil.
Excerpts:
Watching you bowl with such intensity, trying to intimidate batsmen, was one of the most thrilling aspects of modern cricket. Do you miss bowling bouncers?
Yes! Definitely miss it! It was such a big part of me for so long and something I did with a lot of passion and it will be very hard to ever replace that feeling of playing for New Zealand and helping contribute to winning Test matches! I do miss it a lot!
You have 260 Test wickets. When you first arrived in New Zealand, did you ever envision yourself becoming the fifth-highest wicket-taker in New Zealand’s Test history, coming in after legends like Richard Hadlee (431), Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, and Trent Boult?
Neil Wagner celebrating a wicket. (FILE photo)
I don’t think I did! It’s been pretty surreal but when I came over I knew I wanted to be more than just an average cricket player. I never tried to focus on becoming a top wicket taker but wanted to work extremely hard on getting better each day and performing for my team and mates to deliver what was required to the best of my ability. Those names mentioned were far better players than me, but I definitely tried to work to be as close to their level and to make us as good and competitive as I possibly could! It was a great challenge, and it pushed me to become better! It’s a privilege to have been a part of it.
Cricket has witnessed faster bowlers, more aggressive bowlers, and bowlers with greater skill. However, your unique blend of passion and relentless energy is rarely seen. Could you share more about this unwavering commitment?
I wasn’t the tallest or fastest and it’s always counted against me. I had a burning desire to prove people wrong and show that you could make it and have a successful impact even if I didn’t tick those general boxes everyone is always looking for and that passion and heart can take you further than just talent sometimes. I was lucky to have very good players and people around me to support me and found a way of wanting to be successful in a way to make others around me better and complement them well. To bring something different and find a way.
Allan Donald inspired your love for fast bowling and bowling bouncers. Could you elaborate on how he influenced your approach?
Yes, he was a legend and such a fiery character and bowler and the passion he played with and how he went about things inspired me to want to do the same and be and bowl like him. He was a great role model and very nice guy off the field! It’s something that always stayed with me and loved watching him as I was glued to the TV when he bowled.
It’s been four years since that historic World Test Championship win. Your take on the changes that have gone by in the red-ball setup since, especially in the bowling department with you and Tim Southee retiring, and Trent Boult stepping away from the longest format?
Yes, it was one of the best days of my career and really meant a lot. It’s nice getting rewards for the hard work we put in over the years and the way we played our cricket. We played a lot together and found a way to complement each other very well and enjoy each other’s successes. It was a great period to be a part of! There’s some exciting, good talent coming through and it will take them a bit of time to find their feet and roles and to complement each other well and go about things. No doubt they will have a lot of success too moving forward and just a pity we don’t play as much Test cricket as others as it takes time to gain experience and learn and adapt and hopefully they can play more Tests and doesn’t take them as long to find their way! But the talent and bowlers around are very excited and look forward to watching their progress.
The victorious New Zealand cricket team at the Wankhede Stadium. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The historic series win in India was sandwiched by series defeats against Sri Lanka away and England at home. Where do you see the basis of the inconsistency?
The series win in India was amazing and unreal. It will be the pinnacle for a lot of those players’ careers I reckon, but as mentioned before, it will take them time to grow in their roles and gain experience and confidence moving forward and hopefully more Tests soon as possible they will find that! They weren’t far off against England and results could have easily gone their way with some better luck at times and it’s part of Test cricket. They’ll be better for the experience and learnings moving forward but still played some really good cricket! The more Tests they can play the more experienced they’ll be and they will do big things like when they beat India in India! And look forward to seeing this team moving forward and hopefully build on it and have more success than what we had in our time there.
With so many T20 leagues around the globe where do you rank Super Smash?
I think the Super Smash doesn’t get the wrap or the fuss the others do as it doesn’t look as big with big crowds or stadiums and all the extra pyrotechnics but standard of cricket is actually pretty good and decent level in some tough conditions. But obviously not having the big names or big players means we are down the bottom of the 3 big ones probably in the IPL, the SA20 and ILT20. Hopefully fingers crossed somehow, we can see our competition grow and get some big players involved for our boys to show their skills and talent and prove that it’s got the potential. There has been some very exciting young talent coming through in it.
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