Cricket writer Adrian Seconi looks back on a remarkable career.
Stomp. Swat. Grrrrrr.
It is a promising sign to see Neil Wagner stomping back to his mark.
"He is angry now. This is going to get interesting," batters will whisper under their breath.
Seeing Wagner’s trademark annoyed swat at the ball, which one of his team-mates has thrown back to him at the top of his mark, is further confirmation.
And his friendly features slipping into a dark mask is the final marker.
Even money on a bouncer, anyone?
The Neil Wagner in that description is very different from the cherub-faced 22-year-old who showed up at the University Oval for an interview with the Otago Daily Times shortly after signing for Otago in 2008.
Think teddy bear, not tearaway.
He was kind of short. He had a slight build. And he seemed, well, too nice.
Wagner was even described as the runt of the litter, in reference to burly older brothers Mark and David, who both played top-level sport.
In hindsight, that might have been the first clue. Perhaps it was through jostling with them he developed that chip.
We all know it as white-line fever. And as nice as Wagner is, he loves to get into a battle and become singularly focused on one thing: getting you out.
He built a reputation at international level for being able to bowl really long spells where the ball barely bounced in the batter’s half of the pitch.
But Wagner has always had more up his sleeve than just a well-directed bumper — he could swing it, too.
The latter was actually more important to the young quick from Pretoria.
"For me, it is generally about swing," he said in that 2008 interview.
"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."
It is like he is two people - the sweet soul asking how your day has been, and the fast bowler trying to knock your block off.
"I still remember when we met Wags. He was a gentleman and a very caring person and we couldn’t believe the person he became when you gave him the ball," Cumming said.
"It became a battle between him and the batter, and we saw the nostrils starting to flare. He’d do just about anything to try and get a wicket."
Nothing would generally happen until Wagner started stomping. That is when the transformation took place.
"I used to think his first two or three overs were his worst, because he had not had the chance to become emotionally invested," Cumming said.
"Then he’d get hit for a couple of fours and you’d say, ‘Here’s Wags now’. He needed to have that battle, he needed the adrenaline to be pumping and he needed his emotions to be high.
"He did not bowl as well when not as emotionally invested. In some ways, you used to look forward to him being hit for four.
"It took something. There was always a wee trigger and then you knew you were going to have an interesting next 30 or 40 minutes."
He was not always easy to captain, though. Try getting the ball off him, Cumming suggested.
"He’d become so narrow-minded about what he wanted to do ... and sometimes the game needed some different tactics.
"But his ability to run in and bowl long spells was something that stood out. And his last over was always as energetic as his first.
"He redefined the game a bit with his short-ball attack. It fitted in perfectly with the New Zealand mode because they had [Tim] Southee and [Trent] Boult who could swing the ball and he was able to run in with high energy and make batters uncomfortable."
There is that world again. Uncomfortable.
It was not just the batters who were uncomfortable. Short-pitched bowling is not a tactic that wins favour with everybody.
Former Otago opening bowler Warren McSkimming hinted at that just a little. McSkimming spent his career aiming at off stump.
He is in awe of what Wagner has been able to achieve.
"His evolution was incredible," McSkimming said.
"He showed up here as a left-arm swing bowler, getting people lbw and bowling people, [and went] to basically running in and bowling three or four bouncers an over.
"He’s taken more than 250 test wickets by bowling in the middle of the day with an old ball and enjoying a success rate better than most.
"He just has this knack of sticking to what his plan was and basically wearing people down.
"As a purist, who built a career out of bowling top of off, you could argue: is that the way you want to be getting people out?
"But maybe if I’d bowled a few more bouncers, I might have got a few more wickets as well because you become really predictable."
Ever wondered how they get the caramel into the centre of a block of chocolate? Wagner’s success was just as mysterious for some seasoned observers.
How was he getting wickets with what looked very much like modestly paced half-trackers?
"Because he is shorter, he has always been skiddy," Cumming said.
"Often the ball does not end up at the same height you think it would naturally get to.
"He has the ability to bowl the ball above your chest line, but below the peak of your cap. That always makes players feel uncomfortable.
"He was just very accurate and able to bowl to that plan longer that anyone else.
"He was able to outlast so many cricketers just by doing that."
We should not fall into the past tense too quickly, though. Wagner has not retired and this piece will be awfully triggering for him.
We hope so. An angry Wagner is a dangerous Wagner. It might just inspire him to push on for a few more years.
And it is only fitting to leave the last word to Wagner, who responded to speculation his last act in test cricket may have been to scamper through for a frantic bye to help New Zealand secure a last-ball win over Sri Lanka in Christchurch on Monday.
He made that mad dash with a bulging disc and dodgy hammy on his 37th birthday. He is one tough competitor.
"I heard a couple of yarns that people are saying maybe that’s my career done," Wagner told The Country Sport Breakfast.
"Quite gutted hearing that. It’s definitely not done and dusted for me. Injuries happen.
"I do believe I’ve got a lot left in the tank."
