The Black Caps' spin bowling prodigy was always destined for great things on the pitch.
Daniel Luca Vettori, the everymanchild of New Zealand Cricket, didn't spring fully formed into the public consciousness.
Plucked into the Black Caps mere months after finishing high school, and with floppy hair and spectacles, Vettori has grown up while crowds and the public watched.
Over the past 13 years the
boy once called "Harry Potter" by fans and "The Child" by teammates has become a father and husband, a middle-order batsman and world-class spin-bowler and, more recently, the coach and a selector.
His life since turning 18 has been an open book. "That's the unfortunate thing about growing up in the public spotlight - there's nowhere to hide," he says.
There's the loss of privacy, but also gangly images he'd rather forget. "I was very young when I started. I was very light and I had a lot of hair - there are many photos out there that I deeply regret," he says.
While his adult life has been lived on television and in the sports pages, his exploits before being thrown on to the world cricketing stage are less well-known. Interviews with friends and teammates from these early years reveal a driven boy of considerable talent - and several tall tales.
Ron Henzell's house in Dalethorpe Ave in Hamilton has seen many great cricketing moments from Vettori. Henzell's son Nick was the same age as Vettori and the duo often competed in epic backyard games played under traditional one-hand, one-bounce rules.
Says Henzell: "I predicted when he was 15 that he'd get into the New Zealand side, that he'd go up the batting order, and I predicted that he'd be captain," he says. "But I never predicted that he'd be coach or selector."
Vettori was born in Auckland to Italian immigrants Renzo and Robyn, but grew up and went to school in Hamilton. He attended St Paul's Collegiate and, at only 14, made his first appearance in the school's 1st XI. Campbell Bennett, then-captain of that team and now a doctor, remembers the youngster as a "pretty tall, gangly type of lad".
Vettori was then an all-rounder, and bats in the same place on that team that he now does with the Black Caps - six. He was known for his unique brand of batting, all unorthodox jabs and flicks, says Bennett: "His batting's always been pretty eccentric - that hasn't changed."
Being considerably younger than his teammates, Vettori was often the target of time-honoured "friendly abuse", says Bennett. "Some of the older guys used to give him a bit of jip, but he took it on the chin."
Television star Jeremy Wells played in the St Paul's 1st XI, and while he was two years older than Vettori, the future New Zealand captain was already an established member of the team.
"He was remarkable. He could bat right- and left-handed, and he could bowl with both hands," he says.
Wells recounts Vettori used to spend hours practising by bowling at a solitary stump. "The sun would be down, it'd almost be dark, and he'd bowl for hours at that stump - and hit it 25 out of 30 times."
His monotonous success led to time being wasted replanting his target, says Wells. "By the time he was in seventh form he'd hire a third-former to put the stump back up for him."
And there's the long-standing joke that Vettori was so accurate he could bowl the ball on a ha'penny, says Wells. "And then one day someone brought in a ha'penny, and so we put it down on the pitch - and he hit it."
Vettori was a bright student, says Wells, who had his pick of professions and skipped a scholarship to study pharmacy at Waikato University to play cricket.
"At that stage we didn't know he'd be the greatest all-rounder New Zealand would produce," says Wells. "He could have been any number of things. So, a freak."
Wells' version of events should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. The broadcaster with the razor-sharp cheekbones has has made a career out of telling bald lies with a straight face on television in Eating Media Lunch and The Unauthorised History of New Zealand.
Vettori is amused by Wells' recollections and doesn't want to spoil a good yarn. "I'll give you one tip though: I wouldn't trust any of my friends."
VETTORI HAS been such a fixture in the New Zealand team it now stretches the memory to remember a time when he wasn't in the line-up. Of the team that lined up to take on England in Wellington in 1997, then-debutant Vettori is the sole survivor.
Players like Nathan Astle, Simon Doull, Chris Cairns and Stephen Fleming have retired, leaving the second-generation Italian - and the youngest player ever to don the Black Cap - as the resident senior.
His introduction to international cricket wasn't all smooth, however. Mike Lane, a friend of Vettori since his school days, remembers during the future New Zealand captain's first match in Australia he took a catch off Chris Cairns' bowling and hurled the ball into the air in celebration - only for it to land on his head.
"It actually hit me on the shoulder," says Vettori. "Michael's always in the habit of embellishing things."
And, after his first international match in Auckland, the 18-year-old Vettori is understood to have been taken out by senior players to a strip joint. Lane hasn't heard this story, but wouldn't be surprised if it were true: "I'm sure, knowing Dan, he probably didn't resist it."
When this story is put to him, Vettori is initially gobsmacked. "Oh, Jeez," he begins, before saying his senior colleagues weren't involved in this case: "They looked after me - but not in that way."
While Vettori's hair has changed over the years - from flowing locks when he began, to a shaven head, and now beard - his glasses have remained constant.
In an age of laser-surgery and contact lenses, spectacles are a rare sight amongst professional sportsmen. He decided against contact lenses. "I've worn glasses since I was about 3 years old. I'm accustomed to them and they don't bother me."
(Vettori rubbishes Wells' suggestion that he only wears spectacles because of a sponsorship deal. "There's a lot of money in glasses - especially in India," says Wells.)
There's another benefit to wearing glasses: Taking them off enables Vettori to pull a Clark Kent disguise trick. "If I take them off, people recognise me a little bit less," he says.
And this subterfuge can come in handy when he's touring India. Vettori is more recognised in Delhi than Auckland.
The subcontinent's devotion to cricket outstrips even New Zealand's zeal for the All Blacks, and Vettori says the money on offer in the Indian Premier League - Vettori was signed for more than $1 million to compete in the Twenty20 league - is a factor.
"When you have that fan-base, that breeds the love of the game and the love of certain players. Unless you're over there it's really difficult to describe how Indian crowds can be and how much they love the game."
He says the crowd size attending games of his Delhi Daredevils often exceeds 60,000.
The slap-bang Twenty20 format is here to stay, says Vettori - but he'd like to see the International Cricket Council step in and make one-day and test cricket more meaningful so the best players aren't tempted to drop tests for lucrative league play in India.
Bangladesh is touring New Zealand next month, and Australia in March, but Vettori is diplomatic about whether the contest against the former qualifies as "meaningful". "I don't think it's our place, as the seventh-ranked nation, to question who has the right to play test cricket," he says.
He batted at number 11 during his debut match, and over the past decade his performances with the bat have seen him steadily climb the order.
After averaging nearly 45 with the bat over the past three years, he's now a genuine all-rounder, despite still having the same unorthodox action that fascinated his 1st XI teammates.
"For me it's the most satisfying part of my career, being able to turn myself around from what I thought was an embarrassing test record to one that I'm pretty proud of."
As he's worked his way up the batting order, Vettori has forced his way into the management building of New Zealand Cricket. Alongside his captaincy duties, he is also a selector.
And after a player-led putsch led to the departure of coach Andy Moles last year, Vettori has also taken on that role.
Several commentators have noted he does everything for the Black Caps except drive the team bus. Friends says Vettori would probably do this too if he could, but with dangerous results. "He's a shocking driver," says Lane.
The search for a replacement coach has dragged on for several months, but Vettori says it's preferable to take time and make the right decision rather than repeat what happened with Moles.
"I think it's obvious New Zealand Cricket have put a lot of time into it. They realise it's an important position and they want to ensure it's done right so we don't end up in a similar situation."
He says he's pushed himself to perform individually, lest he have to wield his selector's axe and cut himself from the team. "That's the toughest thing about all of this - it could all fall on my face pretty quickly if I don't get any runs or take any wickets."
while the all blacks are physical monsters, professional cricketers are often similar in build to dart-players.
From the squat and handlebarred David Boon and his 54 cans of beer drunk on a Sydney-London flight, to rotund Jesse Ryder, international cricket is one of the few sports that pub-watchers can feel affinity for the athletes.
However, Vettori says a need to keep injuries to a minimum, and the growing glare of the media means these glory days are gone. "You've had these legends of the game who stay out all night then score 100. It'd be great if you could still do that, but I think there's probably a little too much scrutiny these days."
Last year he passed the 300-wicket, 3000-run mark in test cricket, joining an exclusive group of players who have excelled in both disciplines of the game. But Vettori rates one of his off-field achievements as his most significant: "I think it'd have to be being a father - I think that's quite comfortably far out ahead."
In the middle of 2007 Vettori married Mary O'Connell and moved to Auckland where they live in Remuera. On March 8 last year, the couple welcomed their son, James, into the world. Vettori says life as a husband and father is "very enjoyable".
"It's difficult as well, being away so much," he says, but often he's able to take his family on overseas tours. Black Cap wives and girlfriends have yet to become the tabloid distractions of the English football team's WAGs, he notes: "Our partners tend to be a bit more discrete."
If he's ticked off the fatherhood box, in cricket he still has a few more goals to reach. He wants to reach the 400 runs, 4000 mark in test cricket, but is apprehensive about claiming the New Zealand wicket-taking record by moving past Sir Richard Hadlee's mark of 431.
"If I got past Richard Hadlee it'd be because of a career of longevity as opposed to his which was pretty amazing. Maybe he deserves to hold it for ever and ever," he says.
And, anyway, Vettori doesn't want to burn any bridges: "Sir Richard wouldn't speak to me if I took his record away."
Daniel Vettori by the numbers
TESTS
* Matches: 97
* Wickets: 313
* Bowling average: 33.61
* Best bowling: 12/149
* Runs: 3779
* Batting average: 30.72
* High score: 140
* World rank in bowling: 15th
* World rank in batting: 24th
* World rank among all-rounders: 2nd
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
* Matches: 248
* Wickets: 233
* Bowling average: 31.71
* Best bowling: 5/7
* Runs: 1715
* Batting average: 16.33
* High score: 83
* World rank in bowling: 1st
* World rank in batting: 95th
* World rank among all-rounders: 8th
SINCE 2007 IN TESTS
* Matches: 24
* Wickets: 84
* Bowling average: 31.77
* Best bowling: 9/133
* Runs: 1529
* Batting average: 44.97
* High score: 140
Source: Cricinfo Statsguru
