New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner could come out of retirement and play the second Test against Australia after the injury to pacer Will O’Rourke in the series opener. O’Rourke O’Rourke left the field on the third day of the first Test, returning only to bat again in the final innings, where New Zealand fell short by 172 runs.
Neil Wagner, who announced his retirement before the first Test after being informed that he wasn’t going to be picked in the New Zealand playing XI, did come out as a substitute fielder during the match and received a massive applause from the fans inside the Wellington stadium.
Neil Wagner retires from International cricket ahead of 2 match test Match Series against Australia
Neil Wagner has announced his retirement from international cricket effective immediately after the New Zealand selectors told him he would not be picked for the upcoming two-Test series against Australia starting on Thursday.
Wagner, 37, made the emotional decision following a tough conversation with coach Gary Stead last week, where it was confirmed, he was not in New Zealand’s best XI for the upcoming series against Australia. He announced his retirement at a press conference alongside Stead at Basin Reserve in Wellington on Tuesday, having been invited to be part of the squad for the first Test.
He retires after 64 Tests for his adopted country having moved across from South Africa. He took 260 wickets at 27.57 with a strike rate of just 52.7. Only Sir Richard Hadlee has a better Test strike rate among New Zealand bowlers to have taken more than 100 wickets.
Wagner cited his first Test win over India in 2014, New Zealand’s first series victory in the West Indies in 2014, the series win over England in 2018 where he batted for 107 minutes on the final day in Christchurch, the World Test Championship win over India and the one-run win last year against England as his favorite memories in Test cricket. Wagner will continue to play first-class cricket but felt like the time was right to step away from the Test arena.
Wagner and Stead held a conversation after New Zealand’s Test series win over South Africa in Hamilton – which has turned out to be Wagner’s final Test – about his future within the Test side. Wagner was initially not going to be part of the build-up to the Australia series at all, but the team invited their talismanic fast bowler down to be part of the first Test even though he wouldn’t play.
Australia set up a dominating 172 run win over hapless New Zealand in the first test match at Basin Reserve in Wellington. The injury to William O’Rourke created speculations and sparks amongst media that New Zealand skipper Tim Southee might think of Neil Wagner consider his retirement prior to the second test versus the Australians.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins mockingly laughs at New Zealand’s hints of calling Neil Wagner back after 1st Test Loss and openly spoke about it.
World’s shortest retirement- Pat Cummins on Neil Wagner’s most likely comeback in the 2nd Test Match
Australian captain Pat Cummins couldn’t hold back his chuckle on Sunday (March 3) when told about the possibility of seeing left-arm pacer Neil Wagner back from retirement in the second Test against New Zealand.
Australia trounced the Kiwis by 172 runs in Wellington to take an unassailable lead in the two-Test series. After the match, home captain Tim Southee kept the door open for Wagner, who retired recently after being told he wasn’t in the best 11 for the series, to come in for speedster Will O’Rourke, who pulled his hamstring.
“World’s shortest retirement. I mean, why not? If he’s your next best bowler that you think is going to perform, then go for it. I’ve faced him before. It’d be good to see. He’s high energy. It’s been good fun chatting to him each morning out here, so see how he goes,”
A teary-eyed Wagner said his goodbyes in a press conference ahead of the series, which came as a shock for many in the cricketing world. Rookie O’Rourke and Scott Kuggeleijn (despite his recent controversial background) getting selected ahead of him for the Test only fanned the fire among supporters.
New Zealand skipper Tim Southee praises Neil Wagner
Although he was due to be released from the squad before the second Test, the 37-year-old came in as a substitute fielder in Wellington amid big cheers.
“He’s had great reception here over the last week. Got a couple of moments on the field, and he’s been a fan favorite for a long time. We will see how Will scrubs up, and we’ll go from there. We haven’t had a lot of discussions as yet, so we’ll see how Will scrubs up. Our physio hasn’t sort of put a time frame on it or how bad it is,”
“So we’ll just wait and see how Will goes over the next couple of days. He will be monitored and there will be an update on him over the next 24 hours,”
Wagner has 260 Test wickets at an average of 27.57 for New Zealand. Twenty-four of those have come from four Tests against the Aussies at 23.04 and it would have been nice on Neil Wagner’s part to retire from Test cricket on a high after completion of 2 match test series vs Australia rather than retiring prior to it with ICC World Test Championships points at stake.