Physically, Zak Foulkes doesn’t exactly strike the eye as a match-winning fast bowler.
At just under 1.82m (6 ft) tall, the 23-year-old isn’t the modern stereotypical build for an international seamer, in a trade where height – and the added bounce it brings – is a weapon in a bowler’s arsenal.
But having dismantled batting line-ups in one day internationals and test cricket, Foulkes has shown glimpses of the ability to fill the shoes of one of the best to wear the silver fern.
Since Trent Boult’s effective international retirement after last year’s Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean, the Black Caps’ seam attack in all formats has, for the most part, lacked variety.
Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears and Nathan Smith swing the ball away from the right-hander, a natural skill for a right-arm bowler.
Without a left-armer, though, a repeated dose of tall, right-armers looking to move the ball away from batters, and back into left-handers, allows opposition line-ups to settle and bank on attacking that repetition.
Even as a right-armer, Foulkes is different. With an unusual action that sees him whip the ball down at a deceptive pace, Foulkes’ brief time in international cricket has seen him find movement back into the right hander, or away from the left-hander.
On test debut against Zimbabwe earlier this year, that natural movement saw Foulkes leave his opposition with little answers, on his way to a second-innings haul of 5/37. That came on top of 4/38 in the first innings, giving Foulkes 9/75 in the match – the best by a New Zealander on debut.
And say what you want about Zimbabwe, Foulkes repeating the dose with 4/41 in New Zealand’s four-wicket victory in Sunday’s one-day series opener against England is another example that the Black Caps have found a player worth investing in.
Were it not for a side injury to Jamieson, it’s more than likely Foulkes would have run the drinks at Bay Oval. Instead, he should have found himself named man-of-the-match, only to see Brook claim it from the losing side.
Instead, a call from captain Mitchell Santner to give Foulkes the new ball at Bay Oval, allowing him to make use of wind blowing across the ground, proved a masterstroke.
Foulkes’ third ball caught the edge of Ben Duckett’s bat through to Tom Latham, the sixth beat the defence of Joe Root, England’s all-time leading run scorer in tests and one-dayers, to hit the stumps.
In combination with Matt Henry, Foulkes’ new ball burst left England 56/6, a position that not even a breakneck 135 from captain Harry Brook could rescue them from.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of Foulkes’ ability to fill Boult’s shoes, though, is the fact that three of his four wickets came from moving the ball away from the left-handers.
Make no mistake, Foulkes still has a long way to go if he’s to get near what Boult achieved. The now-36-year-old claimed more than 300 wickets in tests, and 200 in ODIs as the bowling spearhead of arguably the greatest New Zealand side there could ever be.
But even Jacob Oram, the Black Caps’ bowling coach, can’t help but note the similarities between the two.
“We know he can swing it [at] decent enough pace, mid-130s,” Oram said.
“[He has] a bit of a funky release point, which is a bit different for batters to get used to.
“But the fact he swings it late is so handy, you saw that ball in particular to Joe Root, but also to left-handers, it’s a tough line to play.
“When he gets it right, like last night, it’s very hard for batters to overcome.”
Since Boult’s exit, the role of leader of the attack has largely been filled by Henry.
Having been forced to be patient, Henry is now a guaranteed starter in all forms of the game, and was New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee Medallist last year.
But having combined with Foulkes for Canterbury as well as the Black Caps, there would have been few to have enjoyed Sunday’s display more than Henry.
“The way Zak bowled [to] world-class players, getting them out in the way he did was pretty impressive,” he said.
“The skills he’s shown domestically, and already in a small shot of international cricket, he possesses to swing the ball. He can go the other way as well.
“It’s pretty impressive how he’s gone about his work. He came in backed himself, and that’s a credit to himself. To come in here, he didn’t look out of place at all.
“It was awesome.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.