Ben Wheeler high fives with Kane Williamson after taking his maiden wicket of Alex Hales as Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi come in to celebrate with him at The Ageas Bowl, Southampton, yesterday.
Ben Wheeler high fives with Kane Williamson after taking his maiden wicket of Alex Hales as Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi come in to celebrate with him at The Ageas Bowl, Southampton, yesterday.
Trent Boult not looking good? No problems because a swag of Central Districts seamers are itching to get on the international stage with the touring Black Caps.
"Wheels got an opportunity to see what it's like at international level and, by all accounts, he put his hand up," Devon Hotel CD Stags coach Heinrich Malan said last night of Ben Wheeler, the left-arm new-ball bowler who made his debut for New Zealand yesterday.
Andrew Mathieson
The 23-year-old Blenheim-born, who has been based in Napier the past few summers, claimed 3-63 off 10 overs, in spearheading the Black Caps attack with Tim Southee, in their three-wicket victory over England in the third one-day international at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.
Wheeler's English scalps included Alex Hales for 23 runs, enticing the opener to a variation delivery for his maiden ODI wicket, as he moved away from swinging into the right-hander.
His second came in a full-flight swinging ball that deceived No5 Ben Stokes to rattle his furniture for 68 runs. No7 Sam Billings fell for 34 to the Marlborough Express, caught Mitchell McClenagahan.
No mug with the bat at domestic and premier club level, Wheeler was unbeaten for three runs at No8 with Southee hitting the winning runs.
The Bayleys Real Estate Havelock North CC allrounder came in after Boult's tour-ending back injury on the heels of Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham also catching flights home days earlier.
"I spoke with Wheels this morning, which was night time there, so it was a brilliant day for him and he was all really excited," said Malan, who recently returned to Napier from a trip to his native South Africa.
Wheeler, who was called into the wider training squad at Lincoln, near Christchurch, last summer, was called into the test squad as cover but made an immediate impression not only on coach Mike Hesson and captain Brendon McCullum but also the English media after taking six wickets in a warm-up game against Somerset before the two-match test series.
Ross Taylor
Similar circumstances saw him become part of the ODI equation, helping New Zealand to a 2-1 series lead.
"Luck meets opportunity and when preparation comes together ... so, hopefully, he'll play a couple more games for them," Malan said, adding it was unfortunate Boult was injured but that gave players such as Wheeler a taste of elite cricket.
The high-scoring affair meant bowlers would have taken 3-63 any day of the week.
What pleases Malan the most is the number of CD Stags who are among the plethora of successors to first-choice bowlers and batsmen.
"Andrew Mathieson was added to the squad as a bowler yesterday," he said, revealing the Ford Trophy record-breaking seamer received a phone call while playing for the Sidmouth Cricket Club in Devon, the birthplace of Somerset County CC.
"It's just another feather in the cap for CD because our biggest challenge always is keeping the players on the park."
Malan said around the age of 23-24 the players' bodies became more supple and stronger.
"Their skill levels mean they can produce the goods during the big occasions so hopefully they'll come right."
It was not only Doug Bracewell or Adam Milne but also William Young, Bevan Small and George Worker who were among "Black Caps identification players".
Former NZ Under-19 captain Young, 22, who is Wheeler's flatmate in Napier, is playing in England for Bristol CC.
"It's great that guys are getting the recognition they deserve so they should be coming back strong for CD next season."
Malan said it was great to see Ross Taylor make his second century on tour after struggling with ODIs but his world-class abilities had emerged when he adapted.
"It's fantastic to see we're all humans. You don't know why things stop happening and why they suddenly start again."
