New Zealand cricket will never be the same again without Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori of New Zealand looks dejected in the field during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final match

For two reasons, the recently concluded World Cup final brought immense grief to the supporters of New Zealand cricket team. While the crushing defeat in the hands of their arch-rivals Australia that prevented the Black Caps from laying hands on their maiden World title is obviously one, the second is the indigestible fact that Daniel Vettori, one of their most loved cricketers, has had his last hurrah.

This match brought down curtains on the highly impressive career of Vettori, one of the most remarkable cricketers from New Zealand. His appearances on the international stage in the recent years have been sporadic due to injuries and growing age, but every time he stepped on to the field, it gave unbridled joy to those who loved the beautiful art of left arm finger spin.

It was Brendon McCullum and Trent Boult who often stole the show for New Zealand in WC 2015 but Vettori's left-arm spin which fetched him 15 wickets at a miserly rate was a significant factor too in the Black Caps' dream run that ended only in the final. His stunning one-handed catch against the West Indies standing at the third-man region remains one of the most spectacular sights of the tournament.

New Zealand’s dominant spinner

It is never an exaggeration to say that he is the first and the only world-class spinner for New Zealand in all formats of the game. A look at the Test statistics will reveal that Vettori was always head and shoulders above his close competitors to the spinner’s slot in the team.

Player	Matches	Wickets	Strike Rate(SR)	Bowling average	Wickets per match
Daniel Vettori	113	362	79.5	34.36	3.20
Paul Wiseman	25	61	47.59	92.7	2.44
Jeetan Patel	19	52	48.46	90.8	2.73

In any parameter, be it SR or average or wickets per match, Vettori was miles ahead of the pack. That there were none except Wiseman and Patel whose statistics do not offer anything special, as competitors to Vettori is indicative of the chasm that existed between Vettori and fellow Kiwi spinners. Coming to ODIs, he is the first ever New Zealander to claim 300 wickets and it is needless to mention that the story is not any different and he leads the pack there as well. Even if another spinner was there, he would be expected to play second fiddle to Vettori while the latter would continue to be the main strike-force. Since Vettori made his debut in 1997, New Zealand really did not have to look elsewhere for spin option.

Daniel Vettori of the Black Caps celebrates taking the wicket of Afsar Zazai of Afghanistan during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup

Not slowed down by age

Here is a break-up of Vettori’s ODI career into three equal phases.

Period	Matches	Wickets	Strike Rate(SR)	Bowling average	Wickets per match	Economy
1997-2003	106	84	56.3	41.45	0.79	4.45
2003-2009	133	157	41.4	27.62	1.18	4.00
2009-2015	56	64	44.1	28.98	1.14	3.93
Overall	295	305	46.0	31.71	1.03	4.12

From the above table, we can clearly see that age failed to diminish his effectiveness. Like fine wine, Vettori’s bowling became better with age. While he was ordinary in his first six years averaging not even a wicket per match (0.79), both his SR and average clearly improved later on. Though he played just 56 games in the third and final phase of career when he suffered most due to injuries, his average and economy in that phase are almost as good as in the period from 2003 to 2009 which can easily be described as his best period. It shows how Vettori could often operate at optimum levels whenever he stepped on to the field despite not playing regular cricket or having full fitness.

Statistically speaking, Vettori's overall ODI record of 305 wickets from 295 matches may not seem earth-shattering and may pale out in comparison to others who racked up phenomenal numbers but he was much more than those numbers. In a country like New Zealand, which always banked on pacers and designed pitches fully conducive to them, quality spinner is an extremely rare commodity. It was the emergence of Vettori that filled the void of a potent spinner, a problem that plagued the Kiwis for many years.

Comparison against contemporary spin greats (Test cricket)

Player	Matches	Wickets	StrikeRate(SR)	Bowling average
Daniel Vettori	113	362	79.5	34.36
Muttiah Muralitharan	133	800	55.0	22.72
Shane Warne	145	708	57.4	25.41
Saqlain Mushtaq	49	208	67.6	29.83

From the table, it appears that Vettori lags behind other leading spinner by some distance but while evaluating Vettori, we have to consider the following factors too -

1. Vettori is the first-ever world class spinner from NZ while most other greats come from a country where there is a decent spin culture or at least one spin legend to look forward to as inspiration. Take for instance – Australia had Clarrie Grimmet and Richie Benaud long before Warne. Kumble had a number of spin greats such as EAS Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi before him.
2. Vettori was often the only strike force in New Zealand’s spin attack. Vettori did not have a strong pace unit or an able spin partner to support him. For eg. Saqlain had Mushtaq Ahmed, Warne was in a team of world-beaters, Kumble was ably supported by Harbhajan. But, on many occasions, Vettori was a lone warrior.
3. Vettori was a far better batsman than most other spin greats and his ability with the willow too needs to be taken into account while comparing their contribution to cricket.

Daniel Vettori batting in Australia

Impact player in all formats

It is time to look at his record in the third and the youngest format of the game, T20. His record in T20 Internationals - 38 wickets in 34 matches at a miserly economy rate of 5.70. An economy rate of 5.70 is considered praiseworthy even in ODIs but to achieve that in T20 format where the batsmen are hell-bent on hitting every ball out of the park, is phenomenal. Since an innings in T20 lasts only for a short time, the batsmen get the license to go hammer and tongs at the bowling straightaway giving rise to fears that spinners might become easy fodder to them. But Vettori’s career perfomance belies all such misconceptions. He was not limited to just containing the batsmen and putting brakes on the scoring rate but was a deadly strike-weapon as well. Even after the advent of talented youngsters like Tim Southee, Vettori was often the team’s go-to man during crisis.

Had he played Test cricket for a few more years, the tally of Richard Hadlee’s record of 431 wickets could have been bettered as it was well within striking distance when Vettori was in his prime but he is not the kind of chap who would be bothered by records. His tally of 360 plus wickets and 4000 plus test runs keeps him high on the list of the greatest Kiwi all-rounders, although quite a few yards below the superhuman Hadlee.

In ODIs, Vettori was a virtuoso in controlling the run flow in the middle overs and was not an easy bowler to get away even on pitches that offered little help to the spinners. His wicket-taking ability and an economy rate of 4.12 testify to his effectiveness and made him an indispensable member in the team.

Add to that his ability with the willow down the order: Vettori is a captain's delight. Needless to mention, he is easily one of New Zealand's all-time greats. In an era when all the eyeballs were fixed on the spin rivalry between the maestros Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, Vettori managed to carve a niche for himself. He operated silently and often away from limelight but did so very effectively. He played the game without an iota of indiscipline but with plenty of passion.

Another hall-mark of Vettori's career was his ability to make a strong comeback from injury and lean patches. It was not surprising to see critics writing him off and Dan coming back with a stellar performance. While Vettori playing this World cup itself was a huge and a pleasant surprise, his terrific performance with the ball once he stepped on to the field was not unexpected at all.

New Zealand will feel his absence

A player like Vettori, who can win matches with the ball and make substantial contributions with the bat too, will be extremely hard to replace. In tests, Vettori was one Kiwi bowler who could patiently and tirelessly send down long spells probing the batsmen with each over and finally nailing him down. In ODIs, New Zealand will miss the calming influence Vettori provided in the middle overs. Vettori, as his economy rate in limited over formats suggests, shackled the batsmen with his tight bowling. Then, he enticed them with his flight and guile and eventually drove them to their grave. The fans would miss the lovely arm-ball that seemed to come from nowhere to rap the pads of batsman to catch him plumb in front of the wicket or disturb the stumps of even a well-set batsman.

New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori delivers the arm ball

And the truth, however harsh it may be, must be spoken. There is nobody in the current generation in New Zealand even half as good as Vettori to replace him. For New Zealand, the road to discovery of another Vettori will definitely be a long one but to unearth quality spinners, the first thing they must do is develop spin pitches. Young spinners need to be nurtured well. When pitches in the country do not offer support to spin, it is difficult to imagine why any young aspiring bowler would want to be a spinner. Offering Daniel Vettori to be the spin consultant (if Vettori agrees!!!) may turn out be a masterstroke as nobody else in the country can understand better how hard it is for a bowler to be a spinner in New Zealand and to reach world-class level surmounting many odds.

True gentleman

Never one to be involved in sledging or controversies, Vettori was one of the most genial and gentlemanly of the modern day cricketers. His calm demeanour and disarming smile always concealed the fighting cricketer inside him. While an angry stare at the batsman after getting hit for a boundary is a common sight now-a-days and is considered fashionable too, Vettori never lost his temper no matter who dire or tense the situation was.

Farewell

A World Cup win would have been a perfect farewell for Daniel Vettori who dedicated many years of his life to New Zealand cricket but sport would never be sport if everything went as expected. His shoes are simply too big to fill in for any aspiring Kiwi spinner. Cricket fans will deeply miss Dan and his endearing smile.