BLACKCAPS BOWLERS

Neil Wagner. What a champion that man is. Probably the only kiwi bowler to come out of this series with their reputation enhanced (other than Jeet Raval), although Tim Southee deserves more credit than he’s probably gotten. Deserves not to have been dropped for that third Test based on these figures... although the workload was an issue for a guy who plays all formats, in fairness.

Wagnut’s got no dramas with workloads though. 157.3 overs across three Tests having bowled 87.1 in two Tests against England just prior. That’s 1468 deliveries in about a month and a half. Wagner took 13 wickets at 19.84 in that series and 17 wickets at 22.76 in this one. Through the calendar year of 2019 he took 43 wickets at 17.81, tied for third most in the year for anyone in the world and those everyone around him played a whole lot more Test cricket. Pat Cummins (59) and Nathan Lyon (45) were one and two and they each played double the matches that Wagner did.

Also relevant is that Wagner passed 200 Test wickets during this series, just the seventh man in our history to achieve that feat (surprisingly Aussie only has 17 of them, though Hazlewood’s banging at the door with 195, woulda surely got there this series if he didn’t get injured). Hadlee, Vettori, Southee, Boult, Martin, Cairns, and now Wagner. Three of those fellas are current players. That’s handy. Didn’t get a five-wicket haul in any innings which breaks a streak of his that went back four Tests but he did take at least three wickets in each of the first five innings of this series, only broken with an 0-for in the last one. The man is relentless. See if you can notice a couple particularly useful trends in his wickets here...

• Warner c&b Wagner 43

• Labuschagne b Wagner 143

• Smith c Southee b Wagner 43

• Lyon c de Grandhomme b Wagner 8

• Labuschagne c Satner b Wagner 50

• Smith c Raval b Wagner 16

• Cummins c Watling b Wagner 13

• Warner c Southee b Wagner 41

• Smith c Nicholls b Wagner 85

• Head c Satner b Wagner 114

• Paine lbw b Wagner 79

• Warner c Blundell b Wagner 38

• Smith c Southee b Wagner 7

• Head b Wagner 28

• Warner c de Grandhomme b Wagner 45

• Pattinson b Wagner 2

• Starc b Wagner 22

One is that he got set batsmen out. He dismissed two centurions and three half-centurions as well as getting five guys out within 12 runs of 50. The other trend is that he got the best batsmen out. Wagner got Warner on four occasions out of the five times he was dismissed, he got Labuschagne out twice, he also got Steve Smith out four times out of five. Doing the hard yards for his team.

Tim Southee chipped in at better than his career average too, how about that? Australia have not been a team he’s done too well against traditionally, 37 wickets at 41.62, but with nine wickets in the Perth Test he gave those numbers a lift from what they once were. He then had a much less successful second Test and was rotated out for the third. But just in case you meet someone, and these people still exist, who thinks Tim Southee isn’t good enough for Test cricket anymore... know that he averages 25.80 with the ball in Test cricket since the start of 2017. Although if you do find some pace lying around somewhere it’s probably Timmy’s because he seems to have lost it.

Aaaaaaand that’s about where we run out of happy things say. Trent Boult was able to bowl a mere 40 overs all series and that was a recipe for disaster right there. He also only took 1/121 from those overs so Trent Boult, New Zealand’s best bowler, was basically a non-factor for our most difficult series in years (he also only took 1/103 from 37 overs against England). Lockie Ferguson nabbed the extra seamer’s spot for the first Test and lasted just 11 wicketless overs before he was done for the tour with injury, not exactly the dream debut for him and one more handicap that the Blackcaps weren’t able to overcome. Cool to see Fergo given a chance at least, a lot of people might not realise but his best format in domestic cricket is Plunket Shield – career first class average of 24.60 with 11 five wicket hauls (and one 10-for) doesn’t lie.

Then Matt Henry played the third Test and took 2/148 from 44 overs. Now, Matt Henry’s an interesting fella. Very good ODI bowler with an average of 26.48 in that format but despite an excellent first class record and success in another international format he’s never been able to translate that into the Test arena. His chances have been sporadic, often just one match per series if he’s lucky, and that makes it hard to judge. He made his debut at Lords in 2015 but has only played 12 Tests of the 41 that the Blackcaps have played including that first one. Barely a quarter of the time (and remember we haven’t played a four Test series since 1999). He didn’t play at all in 2018.

But twelve Tests is not nothing. That’s beginning to be a decent sample size and 30 wickets from 23 innings is not good. An average of 50.16 now (one of only a handful of kiwis to bring up a fifty this series). Strike rate of a wicket every 15.2 overs. His best bowling of 4/93 happened on debut in that Lords Test in England. In his three Tests since the start of 2019 - one against Bangladesh, one against England, and one against Australia – Matt Henry has taken 5 wickets at 68.40. The lack of consistent playing time is a real problem for him but you also have to be commanding selection when three of our top seven wicket takers all time are ahead of you in the pecking order. This ain’t that.

Likewise another guy who has gotten regular selection that he perhaps doesn’t deserve in this format: Mitchell Santner. Anytime you talk about Blackcaps spinners it’s a whole can of worms but Santner bowled 69 overs across two Tests for figures of 1/250 and while it was illness that ruled him out of the third Test it’s getting tougher to justify the cosy position he’s had in this Test team in recent times... especially when he was carried straight back into it after his injury despite others (Somerville and Patel) having done pretty well in his absence. Santner’s batting is one thing but he scored 32 runs in four innings this series so if that’s the deciding factor then that’s straight up insane.

Mitch Santner is a world class limited overs bowler. That’s not up for debate. He’s also never taken more than three wickets in an innings in FIRST CLASS CRICKET let alone TEST CRICKET. With this one in the books his Test average is up to 44.71 and his strike rate is worse than Matt Henry’s at 96.0 having taken 39 wickets in 22 Tests. Bowling economically in ODI cricket is wonderful because of run rate pressure but in Tests it means nothing if you aren’t challenging the batsman and Santner’s overs were pretty milquetoast (I only just learned what that word means so shout out to vocabulary).

Brace yourself now because this is about to get sickening. Mitchell Santner’s numbers in the five Tests he’s played since he came back from his injury...

174.0 OVERS | 5 WKT | 3/77 BBM | 96.80 AVE | 2.78 ECO | 208.8 SR

And three of those wickets (admittedly crucial wickets) came within a single session late on the day against England. One of which would have been not out if reviewed. At the end of 2017 when he played his last Test before the injury he had a career average of 37.05 and a strike rate of 79.4. That’s decent. Particularly for his role in the team. But it’s not automatic selection or anything and what’s happened since would be horrific if it wasn’t so tame. Sorry, Mitch. It’s not your fault the selections are whack.

But who else can spin the ball? Well, Jeet Raval apparently who got his first Test wicket when he dismissed Pat Cummins in the first innings of the first Test. 1/33 were his figures... curiously 33 is also his top score with the bat across his last eleven Test innings.

Elsewhere we had Todd Astle and Will Somerville drafted in for the third Test to limited success. Astle took three wickets and Somerville got one. Neither were able to keep the run rate down either, though Mitch Santner couldn’t himself and that’s usually his strength. The dearth of maiden overs from all three of them was extremely noticeable as no spinner could settle into a spell and apply consistent pressure to a batsman. Aussie were just always in control.

Excluding the part-timers of Raval and Blundell, this is what the kiwi spinners achieved during this series...

148.0 OVERS | 9 MDN | 537 RUNS | 5 WKT | 107.4 AVE | 3.62 ECO | 177.6 SR

And this is what Nathan Lyon achieved...

116.2 OVERS | 24 MDN | 345 RUNS | 20 WKT | 17.25 AVE | 2.96 ECO | 34.9 SR

Umm, yeah... I mean... what do you even say to that? It helps that Lyon was coming on after an unplayable pace attack but the shocking difference there... there are no words.

For the record, Ajaz Patel does have a Test average in the low 30s and is currently the tied-leading wicket taker in the Super Smash... but don’t say it too loudly (chances are Ajaz woulda got pasted in Oz too, tbf).

Finally, Colin de Grandhomme got some wickets too. Not a lot but he kept things tight and chipped away like he’s supposed to. A little strange that they opened the bowling with him in the third Test but it’s not like he hasn’t done that before. In 10 separate innings in fact (averaging 29.00 when he takes the new ball). CDG does a job. He was New Zealand’s third best bowler... which isn’t really a good thing but you can’t blame him for that.

AUSSIE BOWLERS

Tell you what, let’s take a proper peek at those top wicket takers for 2019. No surprises to see the Aussies right up the top after what they did in the Ashes and then with these series against Pakistan and Aotearoa. Keep in mind that Nate Lyon went and took a 10-for in Sydney after New Years too so he’s off to a hot start for 2020...

1. Pat Cummins (AUS) – 12 MAT | 59 WKT | 20.13 AVE | 2.70 ECO | 44.7 SR

2. Nathan Lyon (AUS) – 12 MAT | 45 WKT | 33.26 AVE | 2.90 ECO | 68.7 SR

3. Neil Wagner (NZL) – 6 MAT | 43 WKT | 17.81 AVE | 2.83 ECO | 37.7 SR

4. Stuart Broad (ENG) – 11 MAT | 43 WKT | 25.11 AVE | 2.93 ECO | 51.3 SR

5. Mitchell Starc (AUS) – 8 MAT | 42 WKT | 20.71 AVE | 3.38 ECO | 36.7 SR

And then it takes a drop off for Mohammed Shami (33 at 16.66), Josh Hazlewood (33 at 23.09), Kagiso Rabada (33 at 27.39), and Tim Southee (33 at 29.03).

That gives you a fair indication of what this Aussie side has to work with. Their excessive schedule has a lot to do with the volume but the strike rates still speak for themselves. Well, other than Nathan Lyon but as a spinner he can afford to be less regular with wickets since he bowls long, challenging spells... plus yeah he took a tenner at the SCG.

Pat Cummins is the number one ranked Test bowler in the world for a reason. He’s impossible. He will hit the same ten cent coin on the pitch every delivery until you make a mistake and those mistakes are pretty common against a bowler who has 143 Test wickets at an average of 21.82 in his career. Impressively those numbers are extremely consistent both home and away too, with 71 wickets at 21.78 at home and 72 wickets at 21.86 away. That’s as precise as his bowling, is what that is.

Cummins had never played New Zealand in a Test before. He has now and he rolled us along with the rest of his mates, one of three bowlers with an average under 20... though averages are based on runs per wicket and we didn’t score any runs so that’s not really a surprise. Patty had the best RPO in the series (other than the eight scoreless deliveries that Josh Hazlewood bowled – with a wicket – before he was injured). That’s also not a surprise for the master of hitting the top of off stump. The highlight for him was 5/28 in the first NZ innings in Melbourne, ripping apart the top order with the wickets of four of the top five (Pattinson got Williamson).

And yet his bowling average was only the third best of the Aussie mainstays. Nathan Lyon padded his numbers with that third Test haul of 10/118. He’d never taken a 5-for at the SCG before and here he got two in one match. Lyon’s offies weren’t used too much in the first innings of the first two games but his second innings numbers over the series: 4/63, 4/81 & 5/50. God, what we’d give for a spinner who takes wickets. He doesn’t strike you as a world class tweaker to watch him work but once you step back and see how he operates within this bowling lineup it’s pretty clear that he is. The dude has a career average of 31.58 but he’s irrepressible just like the rest of these Aussies. He’ll bowl all day and eventually find that weakness to exploit. This was his third 10 wicket haul in Tests and he’s got 390 career wickets. Which... bloody hell. That’s a lot. That’s more than any New Zealander not named Hadlee and third most all time in the Baggy Green after Warne (708) and McGrath (563). Yes, Nathan Lyon. Australia’s third highest ever wicket taker. He loves a bit of the Blackcaps too, his career average might be in the thirties but against New Zealand he’s taken 50 wickets at 20.52 across 10 Tests.

We already know that Mitchell Starc is in that same boat too. He was sizzling in that day/night Test, taking 9/97 for the match. He wasn’t at that same level over the next two but only because the Aussies took turns in doing the damage (2/89 in Melbourne and 4/82 in Sydney). Starcy has 62 wickets at 23.46 since Tim Paine took over as captain so know that for as bad as the Blackcaps batting was, they also kinda caught the best bowling lineup in the world when they were all in top form.

Plus Mitchell Starc is kinda sorta the best day/night bowler on the planet. 42 wickets at an average of 19.23 and a strike rate of 35.6 in day-nighters is legendary, by far the most wickets anyone has taken in D/N games. Granted Aussie have played more of them than anyone else too so the next three on that list are Lyon (28), Hazlewood (26), and Cummins (19) but that sustained excellence with the pink ball is something special. There’s only one man on the planet with a better strike rate (balls per wicket) in day-nighters than Mitchell Starc if you limit it to those who’ve bowled at least 60 overs (Starc has boweled 249.4 in DNers)... and that man’s name is Trent Boult. 16 wickets at 12.50 with a strike rate of 26.5... but of course he wasn’t playing in Perth because he was injured. Damn.

James Pattinson took six wickets in Melbourne then got none in Sydney. It didn’t matter. Josh Hazlewood only bowled eight deliveries but still took 1/0. Pattinson actually has 81 Test wickets at 26.33 and he’s not even first eleven for this side so let that sink in a second. Marnus Labuschagne got a couple wickets too but who cares. Travis Head and Matthew Wade are just part-timers. The front-liners caused all the trouble here, making wickets that their batsmen had looked so comfortable on seem like minefields all of a sudden. We got got, son. Simple as that.

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