Daniel Vettori Announces Retirement from International Cricket

Former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori has confirmed his retirement from an 18-year international cricket career, declaring that the World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne was his last game for New Zealand.

“It was a lovely way to finish,” Vettori, 36, said. “It would have been great to win, but I’m pretty proud of everyone, the way we’ve gone about things the last six weeks.”

His departure marks the end of an era that began in February 1997, when at 18 Vettori became the youngest man ever to make his Test debut for New Zealand. His one-day debut arrived the following month.

Vettori leaves the game as New Zealand’s all-time most-capped Test player, having appeared 112 times for his country – plus once for the ICC World XI. He is second only to Richard Hadlee on New Zealand’s Test wicket tally with 361 victims at 34.15 and he is one of only three men to have the double of 4000 Test runs and 300 Test wickets, along with Kapil Dev and Ian Botham.

In one-day international cricket, he is New Zealand’s most-capped player and leading wicket-taker: his career tally including his World XI games is 305 wickets at 31.71 from 295 ODIs.

A spinner who used his guile and mastery of dip, bounce and turn to deceive batsmen for nearly two decades, Vettori at his peak was also an especially valuable lower-order batsman who scored six Test centuries.

Original article by ESPNcricinfo staff, ESPN, March 31, 2015.