Cricket: Black Cap Neil Wagner ruled out of Test 2 against Pakistan

Black Caps fast pitcher Neil Wagner has been ruled out of the second Test against Pakistan.

Wagner, who bowled with two broken fingers throughout, finished 4-105 out of a total of 49 overs in the first test and required multiple rounds of pain injections to keep him on the field.

However, their heroics will end there after the Black Caps announced a layoff for their first first-change bowler in the second test that begins January 3 in Christchurch. His wounds are expected to take up to six weeks to heal.

“I’m not sure there are too many people who can do what he did in that test game,” Black Caps coach Gary Stead told the media Thursday.

“I guess the pain, the injections he was getting were wearing off every time … and we can’t let him go through that again for this test match.

“We want to be sensible about it. He’ll probably need five or six weeks of healing now to be okay by the end of the season.

“It just showed how tough he really is and how valuable he has been to New Zealand for a long, long time. He will be greatly missed.”

Stead says Wagner’s replacement will be named early Friday and hopes the team will maintain the existing balance within the team.

“I think he’s likely to be a similar replacement, so imagine he’ll be a rhythm shooter.”

Whoever the replacement is, they will have big boots to fill. Since the beginning of 2018, Wagner has taken 75 wickets averaging 23.36, often in the role of a workhorse with a ball used for the Black Caps.

The favorites to replace the squad appear to be Matt Henry, who has returned from injury, Doug Bracewell, who has not played a test in more than four years, or Ed Nuttall, a cheerful and homogeneous southpaw player. .

All three options have been on the grounds recently for New Zealand A.

Meanwhile, Stead put an end to any concerns for the health of off-roader Mitchell Santner, who was seen nursing sore fingers during the final of the Tauranga test.

“I think television probably did a little more of that than it was. He’s a little sore, but it didn’t affect him at all being able to bowl.”

The Black Caps lead the series 1-0 and need another victory at Hagley Oval to keep alive their hopes of appearing in the World Trials Championship final at Lord’s in June 2021.