Daniel Vettori set for return to test cricket

Daniel Vettori. Photo / Alan Gibson

Left arm spinner will become NZ's most capped player in comeback match.

Daniel Vettori is set to play in the third New Zealand-Pakistan cricket test in Sharjah and become the country's outright record-holder for test appearances.

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson observed there's "not a blade of grass" on the wicket at the venue and believes playing three specialist spinners offers the tourists their best chance of taking 20 wickets after securing 15 in an improved second test performance last week in Dubai.

Vettori trained with the team at the venue last night. The idea is for him to join Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi in a rare New Zealand test spinning trio. The 35-year-old has been asked to play on a one-off basis.

Vettori and Stephen Fleming have played 111 matches, although the left-arm spinner has also played a test for the World XI in 2005. His 360 wickets at 34.42 put him second on the New Zealand test list behind Sir Richard Hadlee's 431; his 4516 test runs mean just he, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham have more than 4000 runs and 300 wickets. Vettori last played a test against the West Indies at Antigua in July 2012.

Thought was given to playing Luke Ronchi as a specialist batsman, replacing Jimmy Neesham. Now it's a case of a spin all-rounder to replace a medium pace all-rounder.

"We played a [practice] game here in Sharjah, saw the wicket we're likely to play on and, with Dan being over here, the possibility of playing three spinners is one we couldn't give up," Hesson said. "We haven't named our side but his experience and knowledge in these conditions, combined with the fact he's fit and strong again will help."

Vettori bowled nine overs in the New Zealand A one-day match against the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, taking one wicket for 41 runs.

In September, Vettori said he was ready to resume limited overs bowling after a sustained rehabilitation on a damaged Achilles tendon, but doubted he could continue to meet the requirements of tests.

"I can't guarantee the amount of overs [required] to play a test match and don't want to get in way of Ish [Sodhi] and Mark [Craig] in their development. The World Cup's the goal. Tests would put too much of a strain on the body at this stage of my career."

The difference with this scenario is that the usual demands for a spinner bowling away against Pakistan are likely to be less if the workload is shared three ways.

The long run Other examples of New Zealand test longevity
*Bert Sutcliffe 18 years 72 days
*Daniel Vettori 17y 295d [if he plays on Wednesday]
*Sir Richard Hadlee 17y 158d
*John R Reid 15y 356d
*Merv Wallace 15y 265d
*John Wright 15y 35d

*Andrew Alderson travelled to the UAE courtesy of Emirates