Cricket: Invigorated Vettori sets his sights on Twenty20

Daniel Vettori

Never mind his creaking back, Daniel Vettori's biggest challenge right now is twisting the arm of the New Zealand Twenty20 selectors.

The man with the most talked-about spine not only confirmed an astonishing recovery from injury at the weekend, he now wants to be included in the side for next week's 20-over shootout against Australia.

"Hopefully, I reminded the selectors what I'm capable of," Vettori said yesterday, following Sunday's State Shield century and complaint-free eight overs against Auckland.

"I'd like to be part of the Twenty20 occasion, it seems to be something that's taking off a bit and capturing the imagination."

Although Vettori scored 109 from 124 balls against Auckland, undoubtedly the best news was that he felt no ill-effects from his exertions when he awoke yesterday morning, and was feeling optimistic about his short-term future. That should mean good news for his Northern side when they square-off against Canterbury in the State Shield semifinal at Eden Park's outer oval tomorrow.

Vettori's fitness will be truly tested if Northern win the semi, considering he will need to back up for the final against Central Districts in New Plymouth on Saturday, never mind Wednesday week's Twenty20 outing.

But in the day-to-day world of back complaints, Vettori said he was just happy enough to emerge from Sunday's contest with little or no pain in his lumbar region, and no suggestion of an aggravation to his initial injury.

"I'm feeling reasonably good, to be honest," he said yesterday, shortly before his daily physiotherapy visit.

"I got through the day [Sunday] pretty well and my back now seems relatively free - which is really encouraging.

"It's the old story again - the rest of the body feels a bit shagged, but the back's not too bad."

The news will undoubtedly come as some relief for New Zealand coach John Bracewell, who only a week ago was facing the prospect of being without Vettori and Jacob Oram for the series against Australia.

However, whether Bracewell will be relieved enough to risk his test spearhead in the slogathon on Wednesday week is another story, and one that won't be answered until Sunday at the earliest.

New Zealand team manager Lindsay Crocker confirmed yesterday that the announcement of the one-day squad initially set down for this week, would now be delayed until after the North versus South one-dayer on Sunday.

Crocker said it was decided to delay the announcement to preserve the integrity and profile of the annual interisland match, which will also be played at New Plymouth's Pukekura Park.