“We’re not going to treat England Tests as warm-ups to WTC final” – Neil Wagner

Neil Wagner. (Photo Source: Twitter)

New Zealand will be up against England in a grueling two-match Test series before taking on India in a marquee clash for the World Test Championship title. Playing England ahead of the WTC final will be a huge advantage to New Zealand as it will be an opportunity for them to fine-tune their team combination. Learn more about parimatch bonus Promotion.

New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner, however, has said that the Kiwis are not going to see the England Tests as a warm up for the World Test Championship final, adding that their focus will be to win the series against England.

“We’re not going to treat these two Test matches against England just as warm-ups [for the WTC final]. I know for a fact we’re going to get out there and pride ourselves the way we’ve been playing Test cricket and we want to win Test matches for New Zealand.”  The expert cricket betting tips are here in our website. So, read  more what we can more offer to you.

New Zealand is likely to have an edge over India as by the time the final takes place, their players will be used to the English conditions. Ahead of their tour, the Kiwis’ set up a camp where the players practiced with the Duke ball. Wagner acknowledged that having already practiced with the Duke ball has been quite beneficial.

“The way we’ve been training for the last while is something we didn’t always have in the past, having the facilities and having a marquee up and getting a number of training (sessions) in before going to England. On tours, in the past, you rock up there and you’ve only got a couple of training (sessions) and maybe one head out with the Dukes ball before the first Test and with that you can find yourself a little bit behind,” he pointed out.

“But having had those little bit of trainings leading into it has been quite beneficial, just because it’s a little bit different, and obviously adapting to it. It’s been really good preparation and everybody is excited bowling with it. Sometimes you have to control all that because there’s a high expectation of the ball doing a lot and moving around but sometimes you can get there and it can be quite flat and slow as well. The nice thing about it is we’ve got a wealth of experience and the guys have been there before so we can feed off each other and bounce ideas off each other as well,” Cricbuzz quoted Wagner

Wagner has some experience of playing in England. He represented Lancashire in the County Championship and was also part of the side that toured England in 2013. The seamer further added that having played in England before will be a great advantage.

“The nice thing is that the nerves and the unknowns are away, I’ve played at Lord’s couple of times now,” he said. “I’ve played one Test there in 2013 and a couple of county games too, so it’s nice to get there when things feel familiar.