I know that cricket these days is all about hitting sixes. The weird and wonderful TV graphics which owe more to Wii than sport, don't celebrate the aggregate number of dot balls bowled in a match or tournament; it's all about 'maximums' (ugh!). Of course it's great to see players like Shane Watson smash the ball into the crowd over and over again, and Durham's young Ben Stokes come close to emulating Garry Sobers' six sixes in an over in the County Championship. However, it is also refreshing to be able to celebrate the bowler's art, too.
This week, Yorkshire's Adil Rashid took eleven wickets with his leg-spin at Worcester. Probably nothing unusual for late summer but for such a performance on a wicket in April, that was quite something. Then there is Lasith Malinga. We all know what he can do, even if the World Cup didn't turn out to be his stage this year. Love him or hate him, Malinga stands out from the crowd. The blonde-tinged hair, the extraordinary round armed delivery and the roar when appealing for LBW make him great box-office. Nevertheless it's when he performs with the ball that cricket lovers really appreciate what he can do, as with that breathtaking sequence of yorkers for Mumbai in Delhi and even bowling a maiden to Sehwag in that same match.
However, the most eye-catching bowling achievement of the past week came not in the IPL, not in an ODI, nor the County Championship, but in New Zealand's Plunket Shield fixture between Otago and Wellington. The name Wagner may conjure up visions of the actor Robert in Hart to Hart, Colditz or The Pink Panther. It may drum up the grandiose sound of the Ride of the Valkyries as composed by Richard. Now the name Neil Wagner can be added to the history of popular entertainment because last Wednesday he became only the fifth man in first class cricket history to capture five wickets in a single over.
Playing for Otago, the South African-born left-arm paceman reduce the opposition from 136-4 to 136-9 within six balls. OK, so he had help with a catch for the first wicket, but then he bowled the next four men in five deliveries and ended up taking 6-36. Aged 25, Wagner hasn't played an enormous amount of top-class cricket but as a bowler he averages under 30 in all forms of the game and can strike a few sixes with the bat, too. He may not have the pace of Steyn or Morkel but next year he qualifies to play for New Zealand. Could a future new ball partnership with Tim Southee beckon?
Still, if he ever plays against Malinga he would do well to reinforce his toe caps...
