KEY POINTS:
Coach John Bracewell is tipping his New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori to turn the tables on spin rival Monty Panesar and inspire the tourists this week after the biggest test disappointment of his career.
Vettori has quietly digested the six-wicket second test loss to England in Manchester,
carrying the drinks and batting gloves and training in the nets at Northampton during the tour match as he mulled over his contribution.
Despite a five-wicket haul in the first innings, his second in succession to earn New Zealand a stranglehold on the match, he uncharacteristically contributed a total of five runs and made the schoolboy error of not grounding his bat when run out.
Then on the fourth morning, with England chasing 294, Vettori admitted he and the rest of the bowlers "searched" too much as the spicy pitch flattened out under the heavy roller. The ground fielding also fell away and there was little sustained pressure on the home batsmen.
The premier left-arm spinner went wicketless in 25 overs, conceded 111 runs in all and England coasted home after a grinding century from opener Andrew Strauss.
As New Zealand arrive in Nottingham needing to win the third test to square the series 1-1, Bracewell backed his skipper, who took over the test reins in November for the brutal South African series.
He said Vettori led the post-mortems into why they let England back into the second test, and demanded each player break down their own performances.
"Unfortunately he's had a few of these results, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. It's really hard on him, and it's hard on all of us," Bracewell said.
"We were gut-wrenched at losing that test match from such a strong position, and none more so than Dan.
"One of the reasons why I think he's a very, very good leader of this particular group is because he does wear his heart on his sleeve and he lets the guys know, and he's honest in his self-appraisal and his appraisal of them. It's really healthy for this particular environment."
Thursday's third test will be Vettori's first at Trent Bridge after he was ruled out of the 2004 test here with an ankle injury.
He and Panesar, named man of the match at Lord's and Old Trafford respectively, have been their teams' go-to bowlers.
Vettori holds a slight edge, with series figures of 88-16-246-11 at an average of 22.36, compared with Panesar's 74-16-224-9, at 24.89.
The problem for both is the Trent Bridge pitch has been largely under cover in recent days and with rain continuing, is expected to be seam-and-swing friendly.
Bracewell, the former New Zealand test offspinner, has relished the battle between the left-armers but expected Vettori may be more favoured here.
"It may do because Dan is the better bowler in the air, there's no doubt about it.
"Monty probably gets a little more out of the wicket but Dan is a beautiful bowler of flight and he's confident at the moment.
"When he's confident, he is a good bowler and he's been getting the results, two five-fors in a row is not to be sneezed at, at this time of the year in England."
The pressure will also be on umpires Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor, with the raucous-appealing Panesar leading Vettori 5-4 in the leg before wicket count.
Bracewell wryly observed umpires were a lot more receptive to spinners in the modern game.
"The battle to try and hit the opposition on the pads is always quite interesting. It's a lot more difficult to hit people on the pads than it once was, and you get far greater results for it."
- NZPA
