Cricket: Mixed results for pair proving value in team

Neil Wagner.

As the Black Caps continue in their efforts to extend a bountiful summer, spare a thought for players like opener Peter Fulton and paceman Neil Wagner - two members of the test team who often seem to be on a three-test leash to keep proving their value, certainly in the public selection eye.

Every cricket team needs stubborn openers who take the shine off the ball so middle-order batsmen can cash in; they need pace bowlers who toil with tight overs into inconvenient breezes so spearheads can prosper at the other end. Fulton and Wagner fulfil those roles for New Zealand - but neither has ever been catalogued under "prodigy" in New Zealand Cricket's filing cabinet.

Compare them to the likes of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee who were picked young and were always going to be given the benefit of any doubt to establish themselves.

However, the pair have benefited from the loyalty of coach Mike Hesson and captain Brendon McCullum. New Zealand have made few changes to the test team in 12 months apart from Corey Anderson coming in as an all-rounder at the expense of Dean Brownlie and Ish Sodhi usurping Bruce Martin as the favoured spinner. Aaron Redmond, Martin Guptill and Bracewell have featured in one or two test cameos in place of the injured Williamson, BJ Watling and Southee.

"I'm never going to be blasting the ball around consistently like Corey [Anderson] or Hamish [Rutherford] for that matter, but if I play my game with a positive mindset, good things can happen," Fulton said, modestly - maybe forgetting the eight sixes he hammered at Eden Park last year as part of his twin centuries.

"I've got to be philosophical as an opener. Sometimes you get a good ball and it's not your day. I realise my test career is not going to last forever so I've got to try to hold on to it as much as possible."

That was underlined at Eden Park - scene of his two centuries against England last year - when he made 13 and 5 against India this week.

As for Wagner, the Otago left-armer was the top wicket-taker in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Plunket Shield competitions before gaining international selection. His 39 wickets at 37.94 in 12 tests before this one have been hard-earned, often working with more potent wicket-takers like Trent Boult or Tim Southee.

Wagner's effort against Derbyshire last year typified his commitment. He lost his right big toenail surging past 300 first-class wickets with five for 45, cementing his test place in the process. The 27-year-old seems to be on a perennial search for cement since debuting in 2012 following a four-year stand-down after emigrating from South Africa.

His aggression and effort cannot be underestimated despite the pressure exerted by Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Matt Henry and Hamish Bennett on the periphery. He responded with four for 64 off 11 overs in India's first innings, with Murali Vijay and MS Dhoni the prized scalps.

He also chimed in with an inelegant but defiant last wicket partnership with Trent Boult which took the Indian target past 400 - a significant mental burden as only four times in the history of test cricket has a team achieved that fourth-innings total to win a test.

"There is definitely a little bit of pressure," Wagner said of so many other pace bowlers circling. "It's not always easy doing the donkey work or whatever you want to call it. I'm someone who wants to graft hard and find a way through when conditions are tough. If someone else gets more glory at the end of day, you still at least have a sense of satisfaction."

Fulton, 35 last Sunday, made the most of a reprieve last year and with Hamish Rutherford (who has his own problems after 6 and 0 against India), he has fashioned an average opening partnership of 35.42 in 19 innings, which so far compares favourably to the revered combination of John Wright and Bruce Edgar's 31.82 runs in 56 innings.