Neil Wagner retires, will not play Tests against Australia

New Zealand have other injury concerns. Opening batter Devon Conway is nursing an injured thumb and did not bat on Tuesday, with Stead indicating that he may need to wear a special thumb guard to play. Will Young is the young batter in line to come in if Conway is not passed fit.

Rachin Ravindra eased doubts about soreness in his left knee by completing a net session on Tuesday.

During a thoughtful and grateful farewell address, Wagner was most emotional when he spoke about his family, but also the fitness trainers and support staff who had helped him become arguably the world’s most durable fast bowler. He delivered spell after spell of bouncers when most fast men would tire of such a back-breaking task.

“The guys behind the scenes don’t always get the accolades,” Wagner said. “But they were huge with what I did, the training. When you’re not as talented or got the skill sets in the armoury, you’ve got to find something else. It was different and the drive for me is to try to be fit, be strong.

“Those guys helped me and pushed me non-stop in Dunedin in 4 degrees and sleet and ice on the other side of the track. To do those sessions was never easy, but you knew you had to do that, and they were the ones pushing you out of bed to do it, and they were there in the cold with a smile on their face because they knew what it was going to deliver.

“I’ve bowled a lot of overs throughout my life, as a young kid growing up, I wanted to bowl and bowl and do what I did, and I was fortunate my body could do what I did for such a long time, and I wanted to be that guy who could do that into the wind all day for this team. It’s something I’ll look back on and be pretty proud of.”

For Stead, the decision to make a transition away from Wagner was a difficult one, particularly ahead of a fresh bout with Australia.

“They’re very tough conversations to have,” Stead said. “Neil understood, he was very grateful for his time in the Black Cap, which was enormously big of him as well, and it’s taken a bit of time for Neil just to work out what this means for him as well.

“Incredibly tough conversations, especially with the calibre of the guy next to me and everything he’s done for the team.”

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