New Zealand cricket has produced a number of underappreciated players who have made significant contributions to the sport. The 38-year-old left-arm pacer Neil Wagner is one of the bowlers on this list. Some of the most famous games in New Zealand cricket have featured the player, who was born in Pretoria.
In addition to maybe not having the longest career in international cricket, Neil Wagner may have retired from the sport.
He was one of his greatest contributors during the first World Test Championship cycle of 2019–21, taking 35 wickets in eight games and ranking among his team’s top wicket takers. The Blackcaps also won the recently added ICC competition.
Despite losses to Sri Lanka and England in the 2024 season, Wagner also talked about some of his memories in a recent interview. He mentioned the current season as well as the 3-0 series victory against India, which he regarded as the New Zealand team’s defining moment.
“The victory in the series in India was incredible. As previously stated, it will take time for those players to develop in their roles and acquire experience and confidence going forward, but I believe it will be the apex of their careers for many of them. Hopefully, they will discover that as quickly as possible through additional Test matches. In an interview with The Indian Express, Wagner stated, “Results could have easily gone their way with some better luck at times, and they weren’t far off against England. It’s part of Test cricket.”
In the future, they will benefit more from the experience and lessons learned, but they still produced some excellent cricket! Their experience will grow as they play more Test matches, and they will do great things like defeating India in India! Wagner continued, “And I’m excited to watch this team go forward, hopefully build on it, and achieve greater success than we did there.”
Prior to his retirement, Wagner played 64 Test matches for New Zealand, taking 260 wickets at an average of 27.57 and recording nine five-wicket hauls. Additionally, he now ranks fifth in his nation’s Test match wicket-taking record.
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