Cricket: Vettori finding it all so tough

Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori's pursuit of one of New Zealand cricket's most elusive milestones continues at considerable cost.

The only genuine threat to Australia's million-dollar batting line-up, Vettori needs only six more test wickets to join Richard Hadlee (431) and Chris Cairns (218) as the only New Zealanders to have reached the 200 mark.

His five-wicket bag in the first test at Christchurch pushed his career tally up to 194 after 60 tests, but also took a terrible toll on his lower back, where a cluster of stress-fractures have caused the left-armer on-going problems.

So serious was the situation in Christchurch that Vettori awoke on the morning of the first day to find himself completely immobile, and had to be brought back to life on the physio's table as his team-mates warmed up outside.

However, he was as chipper as ever as he eyed tomorrow's start of the second test, and hopeful that his back would last long enough for him to complete the series against Australia and make it through to the winter break.

"I'm reasonably confident of getting through the rest of the series," he said yesterday. "I'm not having many issues with the bowling side of things, it's just the fielding and the day-to-day maintenance, and getting on planes and things.

"I woke up the other morning and couldn't move, which is normally a bad sign. It's a bit of a concern - especially at 26 - but hopefully it'll go away when I stop playing."

Vettori, New Zealand's most successful slow bowler and the youngest spinner in the world to take 100 test wickets, has been laid low for up to 12 months over the past six years, and concedes that he's unhappy with his apparently degenerating condition.

"It's a worrying aspect, because I really want to play for a long time yet," he said.

"My form and my back are probably the only two things that will hold me back from that goal."

Vettori has an outstanding record against Australia, having taken 49 wickets against them in just 11 tests, including a staggering six five-wicket bags, at locations as diverse as Auckland, Hobart, Perth, Adelaide and Christchurch.

However, he has never had any great joy at the Basin Reserve, where he has captured 29 wickets in 11 tests at 40.96, including a rare wicketless outing against South Africa last summer, and a best of four for 153 against South Africa in 1998-99.

The only slight encouragement for the spinners is that the pitch for the second test has been placed near the edge of the block, raising the prospect of the surface becoming a shade drier than usual, and therefore offering a measure of assistance.

But Vettori said he wasn't holding his breath.

"It's not a ground that's really suited me in the past," he said. "It doesn't tend to turn much, usually just low and slow."

The New Zealanders yesterday practiced diligently at the Basin, where one of the net pitches was deliberately scuffed and torn in strategic places, to mimic the fourth-day foot-marks and conditions that often persuade Shane Warne to bowl around the wicket.

The other noticeable aspect of the practice was the fine control and rhythm demonstrated by off-spinner Paul Wiseman, who might well find himself called into the frontline tomorrow, probably at the expense of Iain O'Brien.

Gale-force winds are forecast for Wellington this weekend and the suggestion is that Wiseman is probably a more useful into-the-wind option than any of his pace-bowling team-mates.

The wicket takers

New Zealand top 10:

Richard Hadlee 431
Chris Cairns 218
Daniel Vettori 194
Danny Morrison 160
Lance Cairns 130
Ewen Chatfield 123
Richard Collinge 116
Bruce Taylor 111
John Bracewell 102
Dick Motz 100