What can you say about Bradley John Watling that hasn’t already been said? The fella’s as gritty as they come, the master of arresting the old batting collapse. The Blackcaps were 127/4 when he strode to the crease at Mount Maunganui with the skipper headed back the other way and the team trailing by over 200 runs in the first innings. When he was dismissed more than five sessions later the Blackcaps had an enormous lead and would go on to bowl England out in the final session of the match for a victory by an innings and 65 runs.

Watling scored a career-best 205. He faced 473 deliveries and batted for eleven hours and seven minutes. This having kept wicket for 124 overs over the first two days – though they mercifully gave him a bit of a rest from the gloves late on day five immediately after the declaration. This wasn’t the first time Watling’s locked himself in for a marathon innings, this was his eighth Test century and also the eighth time he’s faced at least 200 deliveries in a Test innings (only four of those knocks overlap). This is what he’s famous for. This is what he’s beloved for.

But to go as long as he did here... that’s crazy. Only one wicket-keeper in history has faced more balls in an innings and that was Brendon Kuruppu of Sri Lanka way back in 1987 when he scored 201no off 548 deliveries against New Zealand (of course). Incredibly that knock was on debut and almost as incredible is that he only played three more Tests in his career. But that innings took so long that the game, in Colombo, ended up petering out to a tame draw with New Zealand not even completing their first innings (Richard Hadlee and Jeff Crowe scored unbeaten tons). Watling’s innings, meanwhile, was instrumental in a Test victory and when we dig into the numbers on Watto, that’s a trend that keeps on reoccurring. We already know what a selfless player he is, we already know what a committed player he is... what needs more of a shout is how crucial those things have been to Blackcaps success.

Speaking of Test victories and matches in Colombo... the last time BJ Watling took guard in a Test match it was with the Blackcaps at 126/4 against Sri Lanka in Colombo and trailing by a little over a hundred runs. He went on to score an undefeated century – his first hundy in three years and 34 Test innings. So that’s back to back hundreds for BJ Watling, both times coming in at six with the score under 150. Well and truly re-inhabiting his top form after what had actually been a couple years of sketchiness by his own high standards (542 runs @ 33.88 across 2017 & 2018)... probably because the plethora of runs scored in that time by fellas like Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, and Tom Latham meant he kept coming to the crease in pressure-free situations – this is a fella who specialises in tough runs after all. He’s at his best when things are stacked against him.

For example... BJ Watling when NZ loses the toss:

60 INNS | 2174 RUNS | 42.62 AVE | 7 100s | 7 50s

That’s seven of his eight Test tons and that average rises to 43.00 flat with four of those hundies in the worst batting conditions when the Blackcaps have lost the toss and been sent in to bat. That doesn’t include this most recent Test either, since this double ton came after England won the toss and batted. Watling also averages a run and a half more in New Zealand’s second innings of matches and here’s where we really get funky...

BJ Watling in Test match victories:

39 INNS | 1657 RUNS | 55.23 AVE | 6 100s | 5 50s

There’s a bit of cause and effect at play there because a couple of his hundreds have come against Zimbabwe in games that we were always likely to win... but this bloke delivers when his team needs him most and he delivers in a way that gives his team the best chance for success. His 205 at the Mount was the highest ever score by a New Zealand wicket-keeper and made him the first kiwi to double ton as designated WK. Those individual accolades are pretty cool for a guy who has moulded his game to suit this team, transforming over the years from an opening batsman to a grind-em-out middle order wicket-keeper batsman. Definitely worth taking a moment here in gratitude and adoration for BJW. Though he’ll be probably be the first to tell you that it’s the team that matters most so let’s focus some more of that gratitude and adoration on what a valuable teammate this dude is.

In the last 10 years, New Zealand have 14 partnerships of 200+ runs. BJ Watling has been involved in five of those and with a different batting partner each time (Williamson, McCullum, Santner, Taylor & Neesham). That includes two partnerships of 350+ (the third and fourth highest partnerships all-time for NZ for any wicket and both world records for the sixth wicket (one beating the other) before those buggers Bairstow and Stokes broke it with a 399 run stand against South Africa in 2016)... and all that doesn’t even include a 193-run unbeaten stand with Ross Taylor one time so chuck that one in the mix as well.

Most 200-run partnerships involvements for NZ:

Kane Williamson – 6

Martin Crowe, Ross Taylor & BJ Watling – 5

Brendon McCullum – 4

Stephen Fleming, Andrew Jones, Nathan Astle & Henry Nicholls – 3

Most 250-run partnerships involvements for NZ:

Kane Williamson – 4

Ross Taylor, BJ Watling & Brendon McCullum – 3

Peek at those names and you’re looking at some of New Zealand’s greatest ever. You’re also largely looking at folks batting in the top four with more opportunities to bat with guys capable of slapping down this many runs. Other than his first few years scrapping away as an opener, Watling has spent the majority of his career bouncing between six (26 innings) and seven (57 innings). For him to be in this kind of company as a partnership-crafter is rather bonkers.

That’s why his seemingly permanent elevation to number six in recent times is such a blessing to see. During his dry spell of 2017 & 2018 he was mostly coming in at seven in the order and his numbers are pretty reasonable there with an average of 35.85 and four hundies. But his recent resurgence has been at six, effectively giving him the opportunity to bat with one more partner per innings. And at six he’s just on a whole other level...

BJ Watling batting at six in the order:

26 INNS | 1238 RUNS | 56.27 AVE | 3 100s | 8 50s

The only regret is that BJ still only gets to bat with one of either Kane Williamson or Ross Taylor each innings. Those two kiwi cricketing deities have more aggregate runs in partnership with each other than any other pairing in NZ cricket history, despite the run outs, but in terms of average? BJ Watling and Ross Taylor average 69.66 runs per dismissal together from 18 attempts. BJ Watling and Kane Williamson average 69.33 runs per dismissal together from 17 attempts. Those are the two top averages in Blackcaps history with a minimum of ten cracks at it. Third place? That’d be the concluded efforts of BJ Watling and Brendon McCullum in partnership – 65.81 from 12 innings.

Fourth place is the classic Crowe/Jones (64.30 from 28 inns) and then it goes Coney/Crowe (61.33 from 18), Astle/Horne (60.50 from 11), Crowe/Reid (57.71 from 14) and then some cheeky Taylor/Nicholls (56.91 from 12). Down the list a little Watling and Nicholls also average 52.70 per partnership from 10 innings and his combinations with Santner and Latham are also in the high-40s. He’s only once batted with Jeet Raval but they put on 65 runs for that stand too.

Still putting BJ Watling in the class of a nuggetty battler is blatantly selling him short on the basis of all these stats and the influence that he’s had on the Blackcaps... something that’s further enlightened with a geeze at his batting average. Watling tipped himself back up over that 40.00 mark again with this effort. That’s esteemed company – if you slice out the fellas who’ve had fewer than 20 innings then there are only 14 kiwi batsmen who have career Test batting averages above that number... and six of them are in the current team. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor obviously. Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls are well established now and in that tier. BJ Watling. And hey just quietly Colin de Grandhomme snuck his way up into this group too in this latest Test.

Watling’s eight Test centuries ain’t too shabby either, you know. That’s the ninth most all-time by a New Zealander... although merely the fourth most in this current line-up. Which is about the perfect place to wrap this bad boy up because in case you haven’t realised yet or if you’re still carrying too much latent PTSD from the traumatic batting collapses of previous eras... the Blackcaps currently have the greatest Test batting line-up we’ve ever had. Just throwing that out there because that defeatist attitude of old doesn’t really work when we’ve got an underrated star like BJ Watling putting up numbers that would have been the best in the tean a couple decades ago.

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