Cricket: Warwickshire withdraw Vettori offer

New Zealand Cricket would be delighted to see him go, but it appears Daniel Vettori is unlikely to play county cricket for Warwickshire this season.

The English county side had approached Vettori to join them for the 2003 season as their second overseas professional.

But it is understood Warwickshire have withdrawn the offer after being unable to come to terms with the left-arm spinner.

"At this stage it doesn't look like it's going ahead," Vettori said. "It's a shame, but other opportunities may still pop up."

Hamilton-based Vettori would not have been available for the county side until the end of New Zealand's two-test tour of Sri Lanka starting on Saturday and the subsequent triangular one-day tournament between the two teams and Pakistan, which ends on May 23.

Warwickshire have already signed Vettori's Black Caps team-mate Shane Bond as one of two imported players allowed per county side, and the Canterbury pace bowler will begin his contract after the limited-overs series.

Warwickshire may have had concerns over how much bowling they would have been able to ask of Vettori, who has his workload constantly monitored by the NZC medical team to avoid further back problems.

However, NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said they thought "it would be a great idea for him to play county cricket."

"It's perfect timing and it would be a really good opportunity to test his back. Daniel's been under a rehabilitation programme for two or three years and he didn't have the bowling load he expected over the summer."

Snedden said it was normal for overseas professionals to have contracts that had restrictions on their bowling loads, with differences between spinners and fast bowlers.

"They [Warwickshire] are used to that and know where we stand and I don't think that's a problem - it may be a matter of resolving financial issues."

Warwickshire are now understood to be interested in Kenyan leg-spinner Collins Obuya, who sprang to prominence at the World Cup.

Obuya took five for 24 in a stunning Kenyan victory over Sri Lanka on their path to the World Cup semifinals, and has taken 25 one-day international wickets and 27 scalps in 10 first-class matches.

Before Warwickshire chased Vettori, they were turned down by Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

The Birmingham-based side have also had trouble finding a fill-in for Bond until he starts, with India's Zaheer Khan and Australia's Adam Dale apparently rejecting approaches.

- NZPA