Single White Cricketer

Single White Cricketer

Loves shopping, seeks mate for companionship, intimacy

Neil Wagner is a driven man. Since the age of 14 he has dreamed of playing international cricket, but things just kept standing in his way. He wanted to play for the Proteas, but he couldn’t. He wants to play for the Black Caps but he can’t (yet). It’s all he wants to do. Please New Zealand let this man play international cricket. Oh why won’t you let him play international cricket...

A lot has been written about Neil Wagner and his quest to play cricket for NZ. But, because most of you are salty scarfies who are more interested in helping each other pick out boat shoes than following one proud man’s struggle to follow his dream, you won’t have read any of it. So I’ll outline it for you. It’s interesting, I promise.

The South African cricket selectors had identified Wagner as an extremely promising player. He starred in domestic cricket in the Republic. He even got on the field as a substitute fielder for the full South African test team. He was on the way up.

As you may know, sports are a little different in South Africa. It’s all a bit hazy, political and confusing. The official racial quota system has been removed and reinstated at various times. The bottom line is that sometimes players are selected based on the colour of their skin or the difficulty of their upbringing, rather than the way they can swing a cricket ball or how hard they work. Call it a quota system, call it reverse-discrimination, call it social progress, call it what you want. It’s rough if you’re a white guy with some skills.

Fast bowlers nowhere near as good as Neil Wagner have played plenty of times for South Africa in the last four years. He has not. He has been freezing his nuts off in Dunedin since he transferred here in 2008, watching the months tick slowly by until he is eligible to play for New Zealand. He has had no guarantee that this will happen; all he’s been able to do is work his saffa butt off with the Otago Volts, get heaps of wickets and hope that the call comes.

Luckily, before he gets too cool for a student magazine, Critic went for a chat. He loosened things up with a dig at his South African accent. “I’ve been working hard on that. I’m still struggling to shake the old Afrikaans accent off but we are getting there.” Off the field Wagner is a bit of a shopaholic: “I’m a bit like a girl when it comes to that. Dunedin has a couple of great stores with stuff to offer. I’m a single guy, so I just try to get away from cricket, clear the mind. I go to the movies quite a bit. My all time favourite is The Shawshank Redemption.”

On the field Wagner is anything but laidback. “I’ve been timed at 144km/h before, so not express pace. I do try to swing the ball. At the highest level that pace is not going to rush a player or hurt a player, but when you swing it a bit at that pace that brings you into the game. If you bowl it straight they’re not worried about that at all.”
But that’s not all he offers. “Batting is something I’ve been working very hard on, I want to play as an all-rounder. I feel if I’m a fast bowler who can bat, that is going to give me an advantage.”

Dunedin suits Wagner’s style. “I really love it. The beauty of it being a small place is that every day, whatever you do, you always see a familiar face. Otago cricket has been very good to me.”

The politics of South African sport have defined Wagner’s career path. “When you’re young you’re a bit arrogant, you get involved with stuff that you shouldn’t really get involved with. Politics definitely played a role in my development. It’s a little bit unfair but you can’t do anything about it. South Africa has got a quota system, you have to make the most of it, you can’t control it. It’s tough when you’re not allowed to play. When it comes to the point of your skin colour making a difference, it becomes emotional as well.”

“I learned a lot from it. In SA it’s a lot about who you know, not who you are. I just want to play cricket and perform. If you keep performing and get picked that’s the way it should be.”

“That’s why I came to NZ. Here, if you perform, you get picked. To know that if you perform then you’re going to get selected, that’s the thing that drives me the most.”
Hear that, ladies? A successful, single guy who loves shopping and has a cool accent. Win.
This article first appeared in Issue 2, 2012.
Posted 4:53pm Sunday 4th March 2012 by Gus Gawn.