Cricket: Vettori joins an unhappy club

Daniel Vettori was undone by the decision to bring the players back after three hours waiting for rain to clear. Photo / Getty Images

Daniel Vettori probably won't appreciate it just yet, but in time he might come to enjoy the fact that he joined an elite group of New Zealand cricketers this week.

He may even come to the view that centuries are overrated; after all, what's the difference between 99 and 100, apart from the obvious?

So a mental note: phone Vettori in 20 years' time to check that.

His heroic performance against Pakistan at University Oval on Wednesday deserved the full return; instead he was undone by the decision to bring the players back out for a 25-minute period in the gloom after three hours in the dressing room watching the rain.

He might not have got there even if it was sunny, warm and in mid-afternoon. It's life, but not as he'd have wanted it.

Vettori is the eighth New Zealand batsman to be dismissed for 99, starting with John Beck, a 19-year-old in his second test, at Cape Town in January 1954.

And he was run out too, just to make it more, um, memorable.

That was New Zealand's first 99 in its 29th test since beginning its international life in 1929-30.

It took 30 more years for the next, Richard Hadlee's blazing 81-ball innings coming up one shy against an ill-disciplined England side at Christchurch in a test which lasted just two and a half days.

A special place on this particular honours board belongs to John Wright. The resolute lefthander who at the crease often resembled a man at war for his country, made 99 twice.

At Melbourne on Boxing Day, 1987, tied down for a few minutes, he chased a wide ball from Craig McDermott to be caught behind.

His second was another sort of double - against England at Christchurch in 1992, when Dipak Patel also managed the feat, run out going for a third run for his 100 and beaten by Derek Pringle's over-arm bowl back to the stumps.

Mark Richardson and Stephen Fleming joined the club in consecutive tests while touring Africa in 2000; Brendon McCullum knows the feeling, courtesy of Sri Lanka in Napier four years ago.

When you consider the more influential players in New Zealand history several names leap out.

Tom Lowry, the autocratic farmer from Hawkes Bay, Walter Hadlee, John Reid, Geoff Howarth and Fleming, in their own distinctive ways were all dominant New Zealand captains.

Vettori, although he's only been skipper fulltime for about two years, can sit comfortably among that group, at least partly thanks to the number of hats he wears - captain, selector, coaching overseer, best player.

He is clearly not fully fit - and admitted as much on the day before this test - but is better than any 100 per cent healthy alternatives at the selection panel's disposal.

He has scored more test runs at No 8 than any other player, 2018 at an outstanding 43.86.

In his last 20 tests, going back to Bangladesh's visit at the start of last year, Vettori has made 1263 runs at 45.1, to go with a further 71 wickets before the start of Pakistan's first innings yesterday.

His batting methods might not suit everyone, but they work for him. He accumulates runs at a decent clip and he has made himself indispensable to this New Zealand team.

"It would have been a brilliant 100," McCullum said on Wednesday night.

"He's courageous. He's obviously got a lot on his plate. His ability to separate each role, his team responsibilities and his own ... he's doing incredibly well.

"I'm not sure how his body is but it's great from our perspective that he has that attitude and desire to lead us in any sort of situation."

Just how integral Vettori is won't be fully appreciated until he is missing, and that might be when Bangladesh arrive in February for a short trip.

That would be the ideal time to take a break, fix any lingering injuries and be ready for Australia a few weeks later.

It would also be a decent test for New Zealand to see how they cope without him.

NINETY NINERS

Jan 1954: John Beck, v South Africa, Cape Town
Feb 1984: Richard Hadlee, v England, Christchurch
Dec 1987: John Wright, v Australia, Melbourne
Jan 1992: Dipak Patel, v England, Christchurch
Jan 1992: Wright, v England, Christchurch
Sept 2000: Mark Richardson, v Zimbabwe, Harare
Nov 2000: Stephen Fleming, v South Africa, Bloemfontein
April 2005: Brendon McCullum, v Sri Lanka, Napier
Nov 2009: Daniel Vettori, v Pakistan, Dunedin