Vettori on track to become best ever

With his long hair, fresh face and glasses, Daniel Vettori looks more like a student than an international cricketer. That is fitting, given the way that he expected his life to evolve. Had everything followed his initial plan, Vettori would now be working towards graduation from university rather than establishing himself as one of the brightest young spin bowlers in the worls.

It is not that Vettori lacked talent or ambition. Simply that his emergence over the past 2 1/2 years has been meteoric. When England emabrked on their last tour of New Zealand in 1996/97, Vettori was a 17-year-old schoolboy yet to make a first-class appearance and more preoccupied with achieving the exam results that would secure a place to study pharmacy.

Those priorities altered inside a heady month in which he made a debut for Northern Districts in his home town of Hamilton and progressed to the full test side after just his second game. This on the recommendation of Steve Rixon, the coach, who intended to follow an Australian inclination of giving youngsters a chance.

Vettori has not looked back. England have witnessed his improvement at close hand over the second half of the summer, perhaps never more so than yesterday. Rixon has even gone as far as suggesting that Vettori, at 20 just two months older than Graeme Swann but with 23 Tests to his name, is "well-placed" to become New Zealand's most prolific wicket-taker in history.

The coach is prone to identifying all his geese as swans, but even by such enthusiastic standards this is quite a prediction. Sir Richard Hadlee retired with 431 wickets to his credit, still 271 more than the next man, Danny Morrison. by removing Darren Maddy and Alec Stewart yesterday, Vettori extended his total to 68. Just 364 to go.

Barring injury, plague or pestilence, though, Vettori should certainly end his career as the most successful spin bowler produced by his country. Only one New Zealander, John Bracewell, the Gloucestershire coach, has reached a century of wickets and, in view of the growing international schedule, Vettori might expect to pass Bracewell's aggregate of 102 within two years.

Nothing impressed more yesterday than the arm ball that accounted for Darren Maddy, which the Leicestershire batsman misread and allowed inadvertently to hit his stumps. The next step for Vettori, who also has a handy quicker ball in his repertoire, is to perfect the "drifter", as patented by Saqlain Mushtaq.

Today, he may face a different challenge. At the close of play last night, England spoke of adopting a more forceful approach, where yesterday they remained passive against spin. Graham Gooch, the acting England coach, said: "We have to take the initiative to the bowlers when the pitch is doing a bit. Our players play on turning wickets and if we are going to win this game, we need to play more aggressive cricket."

If his batting offers a guide, Vettori will relish the challenge. Flourishing cover drives indicate the potential to develop into a genuine all-rounder rather than a bowler who contributes from Nos 9 or 10. he will return home next week with a maiden century, against Leicestershire, to his name.

More important have been a half-century as New Zealand secured their first win at Lord's and a swashbuckling 51 yesterday morning. the impact of the latter should not be underestimated.

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