Blair Tickner grinned when the phone call came. New Zealand’s selectors had placed him back on the 20-strong list of centrally contracted players, two years after he fell off it.
“I guess I don’t have to go back to the coffee shop and make coffees four months a year,” Tickner laughed, referencing the 13th Stag Café in Hastings that he runs with partner Sarah Reid. Bowling quickly for the Black Caps, it seems, beats pulling cappuccinos.
The 32-year-old seamer has been busy proving exactly that. Recalled to the national side late last year after nearly two-and-a-half seasons out, he has collected 23 wickets in two Tests and five one-day internationals. The haul includes three four-fors in the 50-over game and a maiden six-for in the one-off Test against Ireland – numbers that strengthened the case for a fresh contract.
“I’ve loved every moment being back. And I just want to keep enjoying my cricket and hopefully putting performances on for the team,” Tickner told reporters in London, ahead of today’s second Test against England at The Oval. “I honestly reckon I’ve never really bowled better, especially domestically in the last few years. And I felt like if I did get my opportunities I was going to be good enough to play and put on performances. But obviously, until you do the first one or the second one, I think you don’t believe in it. And then now I just feel like any opportunity I get I can take it. And I just want to be putting myself forward and making sure that the team has winning performances.”
Those opportunities were scarce during his first stint. Across three Tests he managed 12 wickets while Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Matt Henry formed the established pace core, with Trent Boult only recently stepping away from the format. Thirteen ODIs yielded 16 wickets. Since then, a productive spell with Derbyshire has sharpened both pace and craft.
“I guess I’ve worked on moving the ball more and bowling faster at times when it was needed,” he explained. Two uninterrupted county seasons offered a mini-laboratory: a heavier ball load, variation in conditions and a chance to tinker with his action without the immediate pressure of international selection.
The experience also helped him master the Dukes ball, handy knowledge on tours of Ireland and now England. “And now, obviously having bowled with the Dukes [ball] before, it’s been going to Ireland and already bowling with the Dukes and understanding how I need to bowl with it. I think it’s just those little experiences that work out. And yeah, obviously now it feels like I am probably in the best form I have been in my life. So I just want to keep rolling with that.”
A central deal brings financial security and frees Tickner to focus on honing those skills rather than chasing short-term contracts. “It does make a major difference when it comes to that because you’re not looking to play all year round. Especially me, I just really want to get into the New Zealand environment all the time. I want to be playing all the time for the team. If I get more time to work on my game, it’s always better,” he said.
Fast-bowling coach Shane Jurgensen believes the improvements are tangible. “Blair’s lengths are slightly fuller, his seam position crisper and his speeds are up by a couple of clicks,” Jurgensen noted. “It sounds small but adds up to a different bowler.”
The national attack has evolved, too. With Southee nursing a foot niggle and Wagner now a red-ball specialist, Tickner joins Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and up-and-comer Ben Sears in a unit less reliant on old hands. Variety, not hierarchy, is the current buzzword.
Tickner, though, is keeping it simple. Stay fit, keep the café ticking over from afar and deliver spells that matter. The coffees can wait.
