OPINION
Follow UsBradley-John Watling has been a New Zealand cricketer for 12 years now. He is 35 years old. It could be tough to believe given his diminutive structure and the child-like innocence on his face.
He is senior to New Zealand’s star batsman and captain, Kane Williamson and their star bowler, Trent Boult. In many ways, he is as important to the side. Yet, his name isn’t taken in the same breath. Why is that the case?
Firstly, most of the things that Watling does are not really cool as the other two stars mentioned above. Williamson leads the side and scores big hundreds. He blows bubbles while punching the ball on the backfoot and most importantly, is regarded as one of the nicest guys around. Boult bowls with the new ball making the batsmen dance to the tunes of his swing, takes 5-wicket hauls and there are YouTube videos dedicated to his uncanny knack of plucking one-handed catches out of thin air. Watling, on the other hand, does the thankless job of keeping wickets, bats at six in the mould of an orthodox batsman - a spot where a lot of teams prefer dashers. Also, he plays only Test cricket.
By the time he gets a chance to bat, the top order has either done its job or the Kiwis are chasing the eight-ball, demanding him to grind. But this is where Watling’s wow-factor lies. The consistency with which he churns out runs in adverse circumstances for New Zealand.
Watling did it twice in 2019 – a year where he faced 135.6 balls per dismissal. In the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, he scored 105*, giving the Kiwis enough lead to push for an innings victory in pursuit of a series-leveling effort.
Few months later, in his next innings, Watling scored 205 against England. Having kept wickets for 124 overs of England’s first innings, Watling batted for 160 overs in New Zealand’s reply after coming in to bat at 127 for 4. The last batsman to be dismissed, he was out to keep wickets again in the second innings. 421 overs were bowled in the Test and Watling was off the field for only 40 of them.
He spent 667 minutes on the crease and faced 443 balls – both second only to Brendon Kuruppu’s effort (777 minutes and 548 balls) in 1987 for a wicketkeeper. Since his debut in December, 2009, Watling is the most prolific wicketkeeper with the bat.
What really makes Watling’s efforts wonderful is the fact that keeping the wickets was not his forte. He was an occasional wicketkeeper who played his first four Tests as an opener, the fifth as a number three batsman (also Williamson’s debut) and the sixth as a middle-order batsman. It was in his seventh Test, after New Zealand’s failure to find an apt wicketkeeper-batsman when Brendon McCullum had given up the role in Test cricket, that Watling was handed the gloves and scored his maiden Test hundred, against Zimbabwe in 2012. Cricketers like McCullum and Kumar Sangakkara shed gloves to focus on their batting. Watling built his career by taking the dual burden.
Watling could forge big partnerships. In February 2014, he played second fiddle to McCullum in a 352-run stand for the sixth wicket against India, a record at that time. McCullum notched up the maiden triple ton in New Zealand’s Test history and Watling’s 124, spanning over eight hours and 30 minutes, was almost forgotten. 11 months later in January 2015, Watling was part of another stunning effort - this time in an unbeaten partnership of 365 against Sri Lanka, breaking his own record for the highest sixth wicket stand in Test cricket that he had created with his former skipper (the record was later broken by Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow - a sixth wicket stand of 399 v South Africa, 2016). In both games, Blackcaps turned the game on its head and Watling was the common factor.
100 out of Watling’s 114 innings in Test cricket have come at number six or below. He has been a part of the second most number of 100-run stands for a batsman who has spent a majority of his career in the lower order.
His heroics with the bat persuaded New Zealand not to shy away from using him solely as a batsman. In the Leeds Test against England in 2015, New Zealand handed the gloves to debutant Luke Ronchi. Playing as a batsman, Watling responded with a gutsy second innings hundred that led the visitors to a series-leveling win.
The only setback the wicketkeeper-batsman suffered in his career was a hip injury in December, 2017. The low number of Test matches that New Zealand play meant there was a gap of 359 days between Test outings for Watling. But he had built enough trust that Watling was welcomed back in the side without any hesitation replacing his replacement, Tom Blundell, who had scored a hundred on his debut against West Indies in Watling’s absence.
As a wicketkeeper, Watling might not affect dramatic stumpings or runouts like MS Dhoni or take acrobatic catches like his predecessor, McCullum but he is the most efficient wicketkeeper going around in the longest format of the game. At 257 dismissals, Watling is the most successful wicketkeeper for New Zealand.
NZC chief, David White captured the essence of BJ Watling beautifully. "I can't think of another player who was successful in the face of adversity. His ability to wring every possible run out of the tail was unmatched; his work behind the stumps tireless and efficient”, he said confirming Watling’s retirement.
Set to tour England, Watling now has at most three Tests left in his career. Will we see him pull New Zealand out of the rut again? There is a good chance given England is one of the most adverse countries to bat in Test cricket and adversity is what Watling thrives on.
