Neil Wagner might be the runt of the litter but when it comes to cricket, he punches above his weight.
The 22-year-old South African-born left-arm swing bowler is not what you might expect from a paceman hailing from the Republic.
At 1.8m tall and 78kg he does not fit the strapping, square-jawed Afrikaner prototype, although he does have the blond locks and light-colour eyes.
His father, Steve, is English but his mother, Doreen, is an Afrikaner and must have passed those genes on to her two oldest sons.
Mark (29) is 1.93m tall, weighs in at 110kg and played for the Bulls in the Vodacom Cup until injury ended his career.
David (31) is also tall with a burly frame and played cricket for Western Province-Boland combined side and for the South African Army.
The athleticism runs in the family but Wagner missed out on the size, and it is a source of amusement for him.
"I'm a lot smaller," he laughs.
"I think I'm about 1.78m or 1.8m. Maybe it's between 1.81m and 1.85m. I'm not exactly sure."
Without a tape measure handy the Otago Daily Times opted for an average and divided it by some guess work - 1.8m it is, which is neither tall nor short.
Otago will be less concerned with his dimensions and more interested in his first-class statistics, which are impressive.
Since making his debut for Northerns in South Africa in January 2006, Wagner has taken 89 wickets at an outstanding average of 18.29.
His record attracted some attention from the South African selectors and he was picked in the academy side earlier this year.
But, essentially, it was a lack of opportunity back home which has brought him out to New Zealand.
Wagner has a burning desire to play international cricket and has moved to Dunedin with the aim of ultimately playing for the Black Caps.
"Back home there is a lot of politics and it is something you can't change," he said, referring to the quota system.
"I've tried hard for years and just feel I didn't get the chances. Cricket wasn't about fun any more."
Frustrated, Wagner headed to England to play for Ormskirk in the Liverpool-Lancashire league.
He ended up playing a couple of games for the Sussex Second XI and had the opportunity to continue playing for Sussex or move to Dunedin and play for Otago.
"I ended up picking Otago because cricket-wise I want to play international cricket. Firstly I want to become a regular in the Otago side and then hopefully, once I qualify, play for the Black Caps. I want to play international cricket, that's my dream."
Wagner picked the brains of former Canterbury coach and countryman Dave Nosworthy and Canterbury's South African duo, Johann Myburgh and Kruger van Wyk, before making the decision.
He was not tempted to link up with Myburgh and Van Wyk in Canterbury because he felt there were more opportunities in Otago for him.
"Also, I'd heard a lot about Dunedin . . . and heard it was a great place," he said, clutching his jacket nice and close and mumbling through pursed lips something about the weather.
He has been in the city about a month and is living in Waverley and enjoying the relaxed lifestyle.
An amiable and animated character, Wagner talks excitedly, and rapidly, about his sport.
He generates his pace through his run up and has modelled his bowling style on Allan Donald's form.
"I've worked with him a couple of times back home and, also seeing him through the years, I've always just wanted to bowl like him. He has been a bit of a mentor to me."
Wagner has been clocked at 140kmh but his stock delivery is about 135kmh.
He has the ability to move the ball in both directions and should be a handful in New Zealand conditions.
"For me, it is generally about swing. You can bowl as quick as you want but if you bowl straight it doesn't bother a batsman. As soon as you swing it you are bringing yourself into the game.
"I'm a pretty cool, calm and collected type of guy but I run in hard at the batsman. I want to make him feel uncomfortable. A batsman should never feel comfortable."
Wagner does not strike you as a fiery character, someone who would storm down the wicket with an angry word for the batsman like the fiery but enormously passionate Andre Nel.
But Wagner is no shrinking violet either.
Earlier this year, he received a suspended two-match ban for dissent.
Wagner and South African Academy team-mate Bradley Barnes were censured after questioning umpiring decisions during a four-day match against Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy in Jessore.
He said he lost his cool after he saw the ball fly from the bat to first slip and the umpire give it not out.
"I just said to him this is really, really ridiculous and it can't go on like this. I wasn't very happy about it but it wasn't the right way to go about it."
