‘Chin music maestro’ hailed
Australian media reported that Steve Smith would sleep easier. An Indian publication suggested batsmen around the globe would heave a sigh of relief.
But what was universally agreed was that the cricketing world would miss Neil Wagner, greatly, following his shock international retirement on Tuesday.
Just two days out from the first test between Australia and the Black Caps, Nine’s Wide World of Sports announced Smith would not face off “against his old nemesis Neil Wagner”.
Australian publication News.com went further when it labelled Wagner, a 64-test veteran, one of Smith and Australia’s great tormentors.
“Wagner’s back-bending efforts to pepper Smith with short balls in the 2019/20 series in Australia helped quell the runmachine, who was coming off a record-setting Ashes series,” the report said.
“Wagner’s relentless short-pitched bowling ploy had proved so successful against Smith in previous series that the left-armer claimed the batting star’s wicket five times in eight innings of head-tohead combat,” a Cricket.com.au report read.
Daniel Brettig of Melbourne’s The Age described Wagner as “arguably the world’s most durable fast bowler”.
“He delivered spell after spell of bouncers when most fast men would tire of such a back-breaking task.”
“Kiwis’ Saffa quick calls it quits,” was the headline from South Africa’s SA Cricket Mag, which described Wagner as a “fiery short-ball specialist”.
South Africa’s News 24.com labelled Wagner a Pretoria-born quickie who played for the Titans before moving to New Zealand in 2008, four years before his test debut.
Another Australian publication, The Roar, described Wagner as the heart and soul of a star-studded Black Caps bowling line-up who had incredible fitness and a ferocious work ethic that “enabled him to bowl long spells of primarily short-ball assaults to trouble many of the world’s best batters”.
“The popular paceman, who rose from South African domestic cricket journeyman to become one of New Zealand’s greatest ever bowlers, has been a staple of the Black Caps side for a decade as a bowling enforcer in possibly the nation’s best ever test team,” The Roar report said.
“Chin music maestro Neil Wagner retires, batsmen heave a sigh of relief,” was The Indian Express’ headline.
“Neil Wagner will finally stop bowling his bouncers,” its report said. “Watching him spill his guts out, attempt to spill the batsmen’s guts out, was one of the most visceral cricket experiences in modern-day cricket.”
The BBC paid tribute to Wagner as a key member of the New Zealand team that won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
“Among career highlights were his roles in famous victories over England in 2018 and last year’s one-run win over the same opposition in Wellington,” the British broadcaster reported.
Respected cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan wrote on social media that there would never be another Neil Wagner.
“The Ultimate Warrior of New Zealand cricket,” Sundaresan wrote.
But maybe ESPN’s Cricinfo summed up the reactions best with a simple: “Thank you for the entertainment, Neil Wagner.”