The Neil Wagner exclusive: A comprehensive guide to everything surrounding India tour of New Zealand
Over a Test career that spanned more than a decade, Neil Wagner showcased indefatigable stamina and bowled lion-hearted spells. The pace bowler was the quintessential workhorse, who could bowl zestful spells. Wagner, who ended up with 260 Test wickets in just 64 Tests, opened up on a variety of topics ahead of India’s tour of New Zealand: the likely conditions at Hagley Oval and the ‘windy Wellington’, adapting to different climes, the home team’s pace attack, Jasprit Bumrah, and more.
Excerpts from the interview:
To start with, the Indian fans would wish to know more about the likely conditions in New Zealand. Obviously, the Test matches are going to be played at Hagley Oval and Wellington…
It’s a tough time I think to play cricket, especially wide-ball cricket that early in the season, and especially for India. Normally, a lot of times when India tour New Zealand, it’s always around sort of December, February or March, where I think the conditions get a little more favourable, a little easier. In the early season, there’s been a lot of rain through spring. It has been on the cooler-side temperature wise as well. So, it hasn’t really warmed up or dried as much yet. So, it’s going to be no surprise that the wickets are going to be bouncy, there’s going to be some seam movement, and a couple of cold nights.
Wellington, obviously, always got a deal of strong winds, which can sometimes be challenging when you’re not used to those conditions. But India has got an experienced team that’s travelled the world. They’ve been here in New Zealand before; they know what to expect. You have to train accordingly. And you need to be aware of those conditions, and how you’re going to adapt to those conditions and have your plans.
Obviously, you have to talk about the famous ‘windy Wellington ‘. You would have bowled into the gusty wind enough times in your career…
Wellington can throw you anything in a day, and the same with Christchurch. I mean, you can sometimes get there at this time of the year and it can be quite a nice, warm, sunny day, it can be calm. But conditions can change quite quickly during the game. Sometimes it’s like someone just flicked on an aircon switch and the southerly turns on. And you can sort of hear it from the trees and the leaves coming through and it starts blowing and it can cool down quite quickly. And the wind can get quite strong and conditions can change rapidly.
So, at Wellington, especially, it can be a consistent breeze. It might be strong, might not be as strong, but sometimes the hardest one is the gusty breeze. When it’s blowing strong, and the wind gusts pick up, it can swirl around a little bit. Those are normally the toughest conditions. But, you know, you can get there and it can be a beautiful day, calm and it can be really nice, cricketing conditions. But as a bowler, when you’re not used to those conditions, and even as a batter, it can sometimes throw you off your rhythm a little bit. It can sometimes change things.
And I’ve seen in the past, Indian teams travelling to New Zealand, when conditions are like that, you sometimes try too hard and get carried away with the pace and a bit more carry in the surfaces around you. And obviously landing on a wetter, softer surface compared to when you’re bowling in India. Also, obviously, the outfields are a little bit more sand-based, heavy. They put a lot of water into the outfields. As a bowler, it can sometimes play with your rhythm, you know, that feeling against; being strong at the crease, having timing of the crease, stuff like that. So, you want to have the ground running.
Preparation and training is really key to try and nail those little moments to know what to do to find that rhythm, to be strong. So you start your spell strong, start your first over strong and know how to do it. It’s very different to India where the outfields are drier, harder, the landing surface on the pitch is harder. So, you can trust, you can run in and whack your feet quite hard on the surface and find that timing. In New Zealand, you sometimes have to spend a little bit more time, you know, finding your feet and being able to use that softer surface. You have to be really strong in the action.
Let’s now look at New Zealand’s pace attack. Obviously, Will O’Rourke is out injured, but New Zealand have a very good fast-bowling depth…
New Zealand has always been very fortunate, very lucky through a number of years now to have a lot of quality bowlers around, a lot of fast-bowling depth. It is a shame Will Rourke is injured at the moment. I think it would be nice to get some game time, get some good rhythm, leading into going to Australia. Sometimes you can’t replicate that feeling of bowling out in the middle; just bowling in nets and having to get yourself ready.
He’s a big weapon for New Zealand. You kind of wanted him to bowl as many overs as possible, so his body is used to what he’s going to experience in Australia, because that’s going to be a different beast again, playing in the heat, different surfaces, different conditions over there. It’s a big loss for New Zealand. But like you said, there’s always been a lot of fast-bowling depth in New Zealand. It’ll be interesting to see how they go about it, to try and find that blueprint. So you know how to bowl with each other, know your role and what’s expected from you. And I guess complement the other guy as well on the other end; bowling in partnerships. Sometimes when you sort of mix and match a little bit and you rotate bowlers, it can be hard to find that role of what’s needed.
But there’s a lot of experience. Jacob Duffy has been bowling nicely, hasn’t played in a while. So there’s a lot of fresh legs in that New Zealand camp. Nathan Smith had a really good series in England and showed a lot of great attributes. But Matt Henry is the key. Henry is going to have a big summer, a big workload. He’s a leader of the attack now. He’s sort of taken over that role from Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Lockie Ferguson (limited-overs cricket) is going to have to play a big role in having to stay fit, stay in the park and help those younger guys. You know, that experience on the field, and the moment when the heat sort of turns up a little bit, those guys become very valuable. So there’s a lot of depth, a lot of fast bowlers in New Zealand. It’s very exciting and we’re looking forward to seeing how they’re going to perform in their home conditions.
Let’s zoom in on Henry. You have played alongside him for a period of time, and he is now the spearhead of the New Zealand attack in Tests and ODIs. Can you chart his evolution?
I think Matt has been a huge key weapon in that team, the way he’s bowled and led from the front. I think at the start of his career, he’s always had to play for a spot. That’s why I say with finding your role and finding that identity, knowing your blueprint, what you need to do as your role to be. Knowing what’s expected from you in the past, as an opening bowler, as a first-change seamer, second-change seamer.
Chopped and changed quite a lot around. So it was hard to find a rhythm and just go and express your skills sometimes and do what you want to do. He’s always been a phenomenal bowler and he’s done it really well. The last two to three years, he’s settled into that role quite nicely. The role he’s most comfortable with, bowling with the new ball, coming in, you know, what’s been really beneficial is having done all those different roles in the past when he sort of started his career.
He’s such a versatile bowler that he can do all different roles now when required. He can be an enforcer, he can be a holding bowler, he can be the new-ball bowler. A lot of players have gone away from swing bowling at the moment. It’s hard to sometimes swing the ball because you can’t look after the ball as much. He’s been a great exponent of that wobble seam. He can swing the ball when the conditions are right. His experience and knowledge is there that he knows what to do, when what’s required.
When it is nip and seam on any sort of surface, he’s going to be the best to explore around the world. And if there’s some swing movement, he can get that as well. A very smart bowler and so consistent. And that’s why I say he’s going to be a huge player for New Zealand coming into the summer, to stay fit, to be there, to lead that attack with his experience and his knowledge. And he’s the ultimate competitor. He wants to have the ball, you can’t get the ball out of his hands. He wants to be that guy who puts his hand up when moments get tough. And that’s why he’s such a successful bowler for the Black Caps.
How do you look at Kyle Jamieson; Henry’s pace-bowling partner? Also, if you can open up on how wobble seam seems to have taken over in SENA countries in Test cricket.
I think the surfaces have changed a little bit. And also the way guys bowl, the way guys play all three formats, things have changed a little bit. And sometimes you’ve got to adapt with the game and with time as it goes on. By no means, I think swing is dead in the game. I think the swing is still there. And I think the best bowlers still exploit that. Kyle Jamieson is a good example. You know, when the ball does swing, he will exploit those conditions really well. But if it’s not, there are different ways and different methods to try and get some movement off the surface. And I think that’s something that New Zealand bowlers have worked really hard on and got some really good experience from playing a lot of cricket together. They share those things in the change room, whichever those plans, they always keep working on those skills and trying to get better.
Like I say, Trent Boult, another great example. Tim Southee too. The ball swung around, they used it to good effect. But when it didn’t, it was going to three-quarter seams, those wobble seams. And wobble-seam delivery has become really effective by the way, how people, batters, have started playing. And against India, I think it becomes a really good tactic. You know, they do come with hard hands. They’ve got really good hands in subcontinent conditions. They sometimes can get caught out, I guess, when wickets do seam and move around a little bit. That’s a huge weapon against a team like India and subcontinental teams. So there’ll be no surprises, especially when it’s windy.
Like you said, in Christchurch and Wellington, it can be windy. It’s hard to swing the ball, hard to get that seam bolt upright. So those three-quarter seams and wobble seams become really, really important. And that’s where, like I said, all the New Zealand bowlers, they always work on all those different skills to adapt to whatever conditions that come in front of them. And that’s what you’ve got to do in a place like New Zealand.
Let’s now shift our focus to India’s pace attack. With India moving away from the likes of Mohamemd Shami, Ishant Sharma and Co., the visitors have a relatively inexperienced pace attack. It could be Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep as the support seamers. In T20 cricket, Arshdeep Singh has made an impact too…
Yeah, Krishna. Arshdeep Singh, I mean, he is a phenomenal bowler. He’s a lovely left-arm bowler. He’s had some good stints of county cricket as well, bowling with the Dukes ball, in different conditions. Arshdeep, I mean, he bowls at a good pace. He’s got a nice away-swinger and inswinger. And what I felt as well, he’s starting to change it up a little bit too.
I think he’ll enjoy these conditions. Last time he was out in New Zealand, he bowled really well. And he bowled a touch fuller. I think, sometimes, Indian teams do get carried away a little bit with the pace and the bounce and bowl a fraction too short. It looks pretty because it carries and it goes past the bat, but it’s not as effective. It gives a better time to be able to obviously read the line and the length. But Arshdeep, he bowls at a touch fuller length. He brings the pad and the stumps into play. And when you move the ball both ways like he can, at a good pace. He brings in a lot of energy. You know, you can see in his run-up and his follow-through, the way he plays. He’s an exciting bowler.
And like I said, Krishna, he’s bowled quick. He bowled well in England. He’s bowled well with the Duke ball in those conditions. I think a lot of the Indian players have always had the skills, the quality bowlers. It’s just about adapting to New Zealand conditions. It’s just a little bit different when you’re running off a heavier outfield, a little bit slippery conditions at the crease, softer landings. You’ve got to adapt to that early. You’ve got to just hold your action a fraction longer so that you’re still heavy into the wicket, still being able to extract that bounce and pace as you would do in the subcontinent.
And when you bowl so much in the subcontinent, where it’s hard and dry, when you come to New Zealand, it takes a little bit of time to just adapt to those. I guess, they’ll try and adapt to that before they hit the ground running. And especially when you do start a new spell, it’s to start well, because you do tend to get cold and stiffen up and you get sore in different parts of your body. Hamstring, lower back takes a lot more work than what it would when you’re playing in other parts of the world. So it’s how you sort of adapt to those little one-percenters to be an effective unit in New Zealand. And no doubt those guys will have had that experience here before and they’ll adapt to those situations.
What do you make of Jasprit Bumrah’s impressive skill set? He has a great record across formats, but New Zealand is one team who have tended to play him well…
He’s a phenomenal bowler, he’s one of the best. You look at him, I can only admire everything that Jasprit Bumrah does. The pace and the bounce and what he extracts from such a short run-up, and it looks so simple and smooth. At times, I think in New Zealand, if you can be over-critical, he has been one of those bowlers who bowled a fraction too short, gets the pace and the bounce and the carry and it looks really good on TV, but not as effective. I think when he gets that fuller length top up to the stumps…
He hits the crease hard. If he can get that timing of the crease, the feel for the crease, it’s a little bit different. He’s always going to be a handful in whatever conditions he plays at. But it’s the little things you want to do to get that rhythm, the timing of the crease to be as effective as you can to get that energy on the ball where he doesn’t go along it as much, but more into it in the crease.
His record speaks for itself. I can only admire him. If he played anywhere else around the world, people would have tried to change things he does and change things in his action, but he’s what he is for a reason. He’s got a point of difference. Everyone who faces him, I faced him before, he rushes you, hits the bat harder than you ever think. He’s always on you. Like I said, his skill is second to none. Every time he gets the ball, I’m excited to watch him bowl.
If we switch our focus to the New Zealand Test batting unit, they have a very experienced core. However, there is also a school of thought that if 2-3 of those players hang up their boots around the same time, it could lead to a problem or two…
There’s a lot of young, nice up-and-coming players coming through as well. Curtis Heaphy has shown some promise. There are some nice New Zealand-19 players who just need a bit of time in first-class cricket. The likes of Tom Jones and these sorts of guys. They show a lot of promise and they show a lot of talent. They just need the volume of cricket, I guess, at the first-class level. So there’s some talent coming through and some young players. It’s really exciting. You look at Kane Williamson, who started really young and then excelled. There’s also a bit of a gap in the batting line-up now with big players who’ve gone and moved on, like Kane Williamson.
There’s a huge loss in that team. So other guys are going to have to step up. There’s a lot on a guy like Daryl Mitchell’s shoulders. He’s a man for that moment. He’s always a guy who puts his hand up and wanting those tough moments. He’s been phenomenal for a number of years now. His role, Ravindra’s role, just becomes a little bit more important now; not having a guy like Kane there. That leaves some big boots to fill.
So, there’s still some good quality experience around. The likes of Tom Latham, Devon Conway and others. Obviously, in white-ball cricket, Seifert and Finn Allen have been extremely exciting. The experience they’ve got from all the leagues around the world has paid dividends. Every time they’ve come, they’ve been a freak against a lot of fast bowlers. So there’s a lot of batting around, which is exciting.
But like I say, you lose some key players and some key roles become even more important. You look at that England series, how crucial the all-rounders, the lower order turned out to be. And a guy like Tom Blundell, especially in the Test arena, how important he is down the order. The way BJ Watling obviously controlled that as well for a number of years. Those guys, especially against India and Australia, are going to have to put their hands up and play a really crucial and really important role.
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