Neil Wagner
Neil Wagner - New Zealand cricketer
Neil Wagner is a New Zealand cricketer of South African descent. He represents the New Zealand national team, the English first-class club Essex and the New Zealand Northern Districts. He plays as a bowler and batsman.
Neil Wagner: early career
Wagner was born in Pretoria, South Africa. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool High School, where he instantly became part of the cricket team. He found himself in the position of a bowler but could play the role of a batsman.
At the junior level, Neil took part in matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh as part of the South African Academy Tour, where he was among 12 players to play in two Test for South Africa.
He realized his obsession with continuing his career in 2008, thanks to his move to New Zealand. He became a member of the New Zealand Emerging Players team under the leadership of Peter Fulton in June 2009, which allowed him to complete the sports naturalization process and receive a place on the New Zealand national team. The South African’s debut in Test took place in 2012 in a series with the West Indies. Since that time, 35-year-old Neil Wagner has played 51 Test for the New Zealand national team.
Neil Wagner: international career
After a controversial Test debut against the West Indies and South Africa, Wagner established himself as a reliable 3rd position player in England’s home and away streak in 2013. The cricketer managed to take 19 wickets in the 5 Test, which significantly helped the New Zealand national team.
Moreover, this was only the beginning of the success of the South African, who maintained his condition for performing at a consistently high level over the next two years.
Despite this, the national team decided not to use his services in any of their two matches against England in 2015. Neil’s next appearance on the field as part of the national team occurred at the end of 2015 on a tour of Sri Lanka. Wagner immediately jumped into the game and had a series of productive performances, allowing the national team to win the series with a comfortable handicap.
The South African showed good bowling in the match against Australia, taking 7 wickets in 6 innings. This was an excellent reason for his consolidation in the Test of the New Zealand national team.
Wagner kept top shape on a tour of Zimbabwe in 2016, where he even won a Player of the series award. The cricketer managed to take 11 wickets in a 2-match series, 5 of which fell on the first leg. Then the team went to Neil’s homeland in South Africa, where Wagner took 4 wickets in the second Test. It allowed them to defeat the opponent led by their former bowler.
The athlete was also featured in the April 2017 Ireland Tri-Nation Series ODI Championship. Wagner has been working in conjunction with Trent Boult since December 1 because the previous teammate New Zealander (Tim Southee) was injured. This change allowed the South African to open up even more professionally and led to an increase in performance: 7/39 – a new record for New Zealand, achieved in a series of two matches.
Neil became one of the top 20 players for the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in May 2018 to renew for the entire 2018/19 season. The South African bowler took his 150th wicket against Pakistan in November of the same year, and in December 2019, his 200th. Strong professional results allowed Neil Wagner to finish the season on the second line of ICC’s bowler world rankings.
The athlete played his 50th Test against the West Indies in December 2020. He also took part in the Test Series against England in the World Test Championship 2021/23 in May 2021.
Neil Wagner: world record
The South African has a world record set by him on April 6, 2011, when the player managed to take 4 wickets in 4 matches against the Wellington team. As a result, Wagner’s achievement was the first and so far the only case in first-class cricket. His performance at the time was 6/36 on serve.
Neil Wagner: personal life
Wagner is a rather private person. He doesn’t maintain social networks and blogs. However, the 35-year-old bowler shouldn’t be shy about his beautiful wife Lana and daughter Olivia Faith, born in February 2020. According to the athlete himself, family is the main reason for his success on the field.
According to the latest information, Neil Wagner’s net income in 2020 did not exceed $ 5 million.
