Tuesday, March 30, 2004
The age of Vettorius
My colleague said:
"lets compare him to Boje (who doesn't chuck and is not regarded as one of the great test bowlers) for a moment in the current test series.
Vettori: 136.2 25 418 4 at an average of 104.50 striking every 204 deliveries
Boje: 75.4 11 248 9 at an average of 27.55 striking every 50 deliveries
These guys are bowling on the same pitches aren't they?
My colleague may disagree but I think the chances of Vettori bowling NZ to victory in a test match are what they have always been. Slim to anorexic."
--- Certainly some food for thought in there. My long-standing concern is that Vettori's figures have been adversely affected by the captaincy of one Stephen Fleming, who has a tendency (most recently exhibited in the First Innings of the Second Test) to either not bowl his spinners, or to only put them on once the horse has bolted, and the opposition is something like 189/1 or 254/2 etc. A number of commentators have noted this with respect to Wiseman, but it's true for Vettori to a lesser extent.
It's interesting to see that Boje, generally considered a workhorse at best, is out-performing Vettori in this series. I guess Vettori could take 5 quick wickets in the fourth innings, win the test for NZ, and his figures would look a lot better than they are now, though still worse than Boje's. In fairness, if Fleming hadn't miraculously lost the ability to catch, Vettori would have at least 2 or possibly 3 more wickets in this series.
136-25-400-6 would look a fair bit better, though not stellar.
I agree that the onus is on Vettori to take wickets in the fourth innings, and to take a lot of them, *quickly*. Please!
Update: I see a certain Sri Lankan spinner has again been cited for a suspect action - aka chucking. In other cricketing news, how would you feel if you were a captain who contributed 6 runs to a team score of 675/5? Perhaps you'd feel pretty annoyed with yourself, while celebrating the efforts of your teammates? Or perhaps you'd declare with your historical rival poised on 194 n.o.? Yes, I'm sure the 5 minutes that India gained from this declaration was absolutely vital in the context of the game. Not.
"lets compare him to Boje (who doesn't chuck and is not regarded as one of the great test bowlers) for a moment in the current test series.
Vettori: 136.2 25 418 4 at an average of 104.50 striking every 204 deliveries
Boje: 75.4 11 248 9 at an average of 27.55 striking every 50 deliveries
These guys are bowling on the same pitches aren't they?
My colleague may disagree but I think the chances of Vettori bowling NZ to victory in a test match are what they have always been. Slim to anorexic."
--- Certainly some food for thought in there. My long-standing concern is that Vettori's figures have been adversely affected by the captaincy of one Stephen Fleming, who has a tendency (most recently exhibited in the First Innings of the Second Test) to either not bowl his spinners, or to only put them on once the horse has bolted, and the opposition is something like 189/1 or 254/2 etc. A number of commentators have noted this with respect to Wiseman, but it's true for Vettori to a lesser extent.
It's interesting to see that Boje, generally considered a workhorse at best, is out-performing Vettori in this series. I guess Vettori could take 5 quick wickets in the fourth innings, win the test for NZ, and his figures would look a lot better than they are now, though still worse than Boje's. In fairness, if Fleming hadn't miraculously lost the ability to catch, Vettori would have at least 2 or possibly 3 more wickets in this series.
136-25-400-6 would look a fair bit better, though not stellar.
I agree that the onus is on Vettori to take wickets in the fourth innings, and to take a lot of them, *quickly*. Please!
Update: I see a certain Sri Lankan spinner has again been cited for a suspect action - aka chucking. In other cricketing news, how would you feel if you were a captain who contributed 6 runs to a team score of 675/5? Perhaps you'd feel pretty annoyed with yourself, while celebrating the efforts of your teammates? Or perhaps you'd declare with your historical rival poised on 194 n.o.? Yes, I'm sure the 5 minutes that India gained from this declaration was absolutely vital in the context of the game. Not.
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