Viva Vettori

At 30, Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori is “a veteran among the greats” according to International Herald Tribune writer Huw Richards, “and like Joe DiMaggio in baseball and the Australian rugby players David Campese and John Eales, Vettori has taken an Italian heritage to new and unexpected places.” As well as maintaining this reputation,” Vettori bears the considerable cares of captaincy,” continues Richards. “Leading New Zealand is particularly demanding. The squad rarely has the edge in talent against international opponents, so has to compensate by using its limited resources more intelligently. He is arguably the best lower-order batsman in test cricket history and he is undoubtedly now in the rare category of players who justify their place as either batsman or bowler. His batting is particularly valuable to a team prone to top-order fragility. If he retired tomorrow he would deserve to be honored by his nation, which has received a rich and wholly unpredictable return on its postwar relaxation of  strict immigration controls that would once have excluded his Italian father, Renzo.”