"World’s shortest retirement" - Pat Cummins laughs at New Zealand's hints of calling Neil Wagner back after 1st Test loss

Australian captain Pat Cummins couldn't hold back his chuckle on Sunday (March 3) when told about the possibility of seeing left-arm pacer Neil Wagner back from retirement in the second Test against New Zealand.

Australia trounced the Kiwis by 172 runs in Wellington to take an unassailable lead in the two-Test series. After the match, home captain Tim Southee kept the door open for Wagner, who retired recently after being told he wasn't in the best 11 for the series, to come in for speedster Will O’Rourke, who pulled his hamstring.

“World’s shortest retirement," Cummins said after the match. "I mean, why not? If he’s your next best bowler that you think is going to perform, then go for it. I’ve faced him before. It’d be good to see. He’s high energy. It’s been good fun chatting to him each morning out here, so see how he goes.”

A teary-eyed Wagner said his goodbyes in a press conference ahead of the series, which came as a shock for many in the cricketing world. Rookie O’Rourke and Scott Kuggeleijn (despite his recent controversial background) getting selected ahead of him for the Test only fanned the fire among supporters.

"He’s been a fan favorite" - Tim Southee on Neil Wagner

Although he was due to be released from the squad before the second Test, the 37-year-old came in as a subsitute fielder in Wellington amid big cheers.

“He’s had great reception here over the last week," Southee said after the match. "Got a couple of moments on the field, and he’s been a fan favourite for a long time. We will see how Will scrubs up, and we’ll go from there. We haven’t had a lot of discussions as yet, so we’ll see how Will scrubs up. Our physio hasn’t sort of put a time frame on it or how bad it is.

"So we’ll just wait and see how Will goes over the next couple of days. He will be monitored and there will be an update on him over the next 24 hours.”

Wagner has 260 Test wickets at an average of 27.57 for New Zealand. Twenty-four of those have come from four Tests against the Aussies at 23.04.