Wagner in hunt for new tricks

He’s been the master of the short ball, but now Black Caps paceman Neil Wagner is committed to not being seen as ‘‘a one-trick pony’’.

The lion-hearted left-armer is back from a winter in England with a few more tools in the kitbag as he heads into another international season.

Ever since a dismissal of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews on a docile Dunedin deck in December, 2015, no-one has done the bumper better than the former two-time South Africa 12th man.

Whacking it in to force a breakthrough amidst unconventional field settings, Wagner’s shortish stature offers skiddy bounce and forces batsmen to fend in awkward areas, while his unrelenting desire and ability to push through the punishing physical ask is the other key factor.

‘‘It’s something that I’ve always bowled, in my whole career. My short ball has always been a weapon for me,’’ Wagner said.

‘‘It wasn’t till we went through a period where conditions were either not suitable to swing bowling, or the ball would get soft at times and there was just not a lot offering when you did pitch it up on a good area and batters look settled.

‘‘So you had to find different methods.’’

A la when Sri Lanka were 165-3 in pursuit of 405 on the final day of that first test, and after a sustained Wagner assault it eventually resulted in Mathews losing his middle stump to a full one.

From then it’s been a fruitful tactic. From his debut in 2012 until that 122-run win at University Oval, Wagner had taken 58 wickets from 16 tests, at an average of 34.48.

Since then, it’s 91 wickets from 20, at 24.29, even accounting for how expensive the short ball can be when a batsman opts to attack. Four of his five five-fors have also come in this period.

But for all the success it’s brought, don’t expect a barrage of bouncers every time Wagner gets the ball in his hand this summer.

‘‘You don’t want to be seen as a one-trick pony,’’ he said. ‘‘For me, it’s when the conditions are right and it’s asked for, I know I can fall to that. And then also when it’s required to bowl a good line and length, and either restrict or attack and be aggressive in different areas, to be able to do that too, and be consistent while doing it.’’

That’s where his winter in county cricket comes in. After last season leading Essex to their first championship in 25 years, Wagner returned and while he admits to a mixed bag of performances across the three formats, he said it was all about developing himself as a cricketer.

‘‘Bowling with the Duke ball is a lot different to bowling over here [with the Kookaburra]. It obviously swings more, and you’ve got to present the seam a little bit more,’’ he said.

‘‘You can sometimes fall into the trap of just bowling the short stuff and just working on that, and lose your other skill a little bit. The short ball is not as effective over there.

‘‘It’s a completely different style of bowling because you have to bring the wickets into play a bit more. So it creates different challenges.’’

On return, Wagner enjoyed a win with Northern Districts in the Plunket Shield this week in Mt Maunganui, taking seven scalps in the eight-wicket win against his former Otago side.

It was a family-based decision to move away from Dunedin after a decade and up to Papamoa, where he and his wife have plenty of friends for support, while their family are back in South Africa.

But before any thoughts of retiring by the beach, Wagner is still chasing one more big dream – to play white-ball cricket for the Black Caps.

‘‘I still believe I’ve got skills in that game. Sometimes I feel like I am dreaming, because it’s probably not going to happen, and I’m not getting any younger, and the guys there have been doing an amazing job. If I pay too much attention to that you sort of lose focus on the things you do well, so for me it’s just to keep contributing and doing what I do best, and hopefully that opportunity arises.’’ innings fell apart.

Seifert’s 26, included five fours. Pakistan lost their openers early, with Sahibzada Farhan run out for one, while Umar Amir made 20 before falling to Kyle Jamieson.

But third-wicket pair Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Tallat got the job done with a partnership of 44 off 51 balls.

Blair Tickner and Jamieson both bowled four overs for New Zealand, and Scott Kuggeleijn three.

Meanwhile, in the Afghanistan Premier League in Sharjah yesterday, Kiwi batsman Anton Devcich scored 77 off 46 balls to help Nangarhar Leopards to a 15-run win over Kabul Zwanan, with former Black Cap Luke Ronchi topscoring as opener with 50 off 31.

Chasing 182-5, Kabul got to 167-9 as Kiwi Mitchell McClenaghan took 24-2 off two overs, both late in the innings.

In the other match, Brendon McCullum’s Kandahar Knights remained at the foot of the table after losing to leaders Paktia Panthers by nine runs.

Paktia scored 127, Knights all out for 118 balls remaining.

McCullum scored 18 off 22

Only Anderson and Seifert offered a modicum of resistance. After Anderson dragged an Asif slower ball on to his stumps, the innings fell apart.

with with the two

balls.