| NERVELESS VETTORI HOLDING THE ACES |
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THE problem for England is 18 years old. It began in
1979
when Daniel Vettori was born and confronted them
first a
fortnight ago when, just a week after his 18th birthday, Vettori was
chosen
to play for New Zealand.
The Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was
Vettori's
third first-class match; this one at Lancaster Park,
Christchurch, is his fourth. The highest position he has occupied in a
batting order was 11, until this game, when he
shambled
out somewhat self-consciously at No 9. The most first-class overs he
had
bowled off the reel was 14, until yesterday, when he bowled 23.
Only he, and his accurate exploitation of the rough
outside the right-hander's leg stump, appeared to
stand
before England winning the series 2-0 and escaping scot-free from a
winter
of so much discontent.
Only he, and his calm temperament, which would carry
New
Zealand's bowling attack into the final day of the
series, could inspire his team to level at 1-1 and give cricket in his
country its much needed boost.
There was nothing else to upset England's run chase
on
this excellent pitch, just the rough and the
18-year-old.
"Aw," said Vettori after the fourth day's play, "I'm
enjoying it immensely and looking forward to bowling
into
those footmarks again tomorrow. Yeah, I've bowled more than 20 overs in
a
row before, but only at school, not in the real
stuff."
This was the real stuff all right, bowling at Michael
Atherton, the arch defender, and Alec Stewart, the
principal attacker, in a Test match. He had already dealt a further
blow to
Nick Knight's misery by persuading him to drive into
the
hands of mid-off and after that joy he settled into an examination of
Stewart's patience and of Atherton's defence.
Remarkably, Vettori has shown no sign of nerves.
Maybe he
has not had time to worry about his responsibility,
maybe
he is simply a sane and balanced character of the sort scarcely found
in
the modern hurly-burly of international cricket.
Certainly he is mature beyond the norm, which was illustrated when
he switched to bowl around the wicket to Stewart, in the orthodox
fashion,
and drifted a ball into the pads, at which the
batsman
poked and edged to short leg.
The change of angle had done the trick: the
relentless
inquisition with some balls spinning and spitting
violently - one hit Stewart above the eyebrow - had set it up.
The freshman had come on to bowl at 2.30pm and three
hours later left the field to a standing ovation with
figures of 23-5-33-2. As if that were not enough, he had come in to bat
at
10.45am during the
morning and left the field to a first enthusiastic
reception when New Zealand were all out at 12.25pm,
unbeaten himself with 29.
YES, he can bat too, and his tenacious, and at times
exhilarating, partnership with the flamboyant Chris
Cairns gave New Zealand something formidable at which to bowl.
"There are a lot of good players in England," he
said. "I
saw them on our under-19 tour there last winter [our
summer]. I reckon some of the guys we played against are good enough to
get
a go soon." This was not meant to sound like it
sounded,
but it hit a nerve.
Which 18-year-old Englishman will be thrust into Test
cricket next summer, we wonder. How long will clean
young
talent fester in county second XIs "learning their trade"?
Vettori already has his trade. A simple run to the
crease, a high action, a full follow-through and a good
idea of which pace to bowl, which flight to use, and on what surface.
When
he bats he stands still,
defends straight and hits freely at anything he
fancies
rather as Gower might have done had he been a bowler.
Best of all, Vettori already has his opportunity and, since he does not
yet
know failure, is out to take it.
Conversely, England know all about failure and
appeared
frightened by its possibility. They had a fine chance
to
take the match away from New Zealand yesterday afternoon by not
allowing
Vettori to find
his groove - Atherton and Knight, though not without
alarm, had scored eagerly against the new ball - but
instead they kicked at everything wide and blocked most that was
straight.
This approach gave Vettori
the luxury of discovering his rhythm and therefore
his
confidence, because England were uncertain of their
method of attack, so opted instead to wear down their young opponent by
defence.
This was just about acceptable for Atherton, but not
for
Stewart whose strength is in attack. During this
intriguing last hour England lost their way - much as New Zealand had
done
the day before against
Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell - by allowing an
18-year-old to win the test of nerve.
Atherton survived and there is enough class in the
middle
order to help him, but even if they win this battle,
as
they should against obviously weaker opposition, their blinkered
appraisal
of opportunity continues to hinder their overall
progress.
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