Wynne Gray: When doggedness is sweeter than grace

Skipper Daniel Vettori helped rescue New Zealand's first innings yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

Graceful or gutsy. How do you like your cricketers?

What would keep you chained to the couch instead of taking in this magnificent summer at the beach or would demand your attendance at the Basin instead of some other activity in the capital?

Many who watch the fabled summer game with relentless dedication will wax on for hours about the glories of a cover drive, the dying art of the late cut or the difficult magnificence of an on-drive.

These are folk who delight in the technical excellence of players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Martin Crowe, men who eased the ball to the boundary or any other points on the park they wished.

They are spectators who love to see batsmen build an innings, who will regale you with the glorious deeds of Walter Hammond, the grace which the bulky Sir Colin Cowdrey brought to his batting or the sumptuous strokeplay of the unhurried David Gower.

Then there are followers who want to see the outrageous attacking talents of Virender Sehwag or the adventure which comes with Kevin Pietersen's batting.

If they fail, so be it. The spectators want to see those batsmen attack the bowlers from ball one. Men such as Adam Gilchrist or the late David Hookes, who liked scoring quickly before run-rates became such a fixation with the new version of the sport.

Of course there was the incomparable Sir Garfield Sobers, who excelled in every department of the game and could tailor his skills to any situation.

Lurking in the must-see department is the skilful artistry of Kumar Sangakarra or the unrelenting concentration and commitment of Jacques Kallis.

Take your pick, it is all about preference. Which brings us to the questions about New Zealand cricket, in focus again this weekend at the Basin.

Skipper Daniel Vettori helped rescue the first innings then add some serious substance as he nudged, cut, nurdled and swatted his way to his sixth test century.

He has worked his way past 4000 test runs and is fifth in the New Zealand aggregate list behind Stephen Fleming, Martin Crowe, John Wright and Nathan Astle.

Vettori has joined Fleming as the only Kiwi to have played more than 100 tests, his skill as much as his longevity pushing him into the record charts.

He averages a shade above 30 and has grafted and collected those runs while working with or around the second half of the order.

Vettori carries few of the classic lefthanders' strokes which provoked torrents of delicious descriptions from journalists who chronicled the careers of Martin Donnelly or Bert Sutcliffe.

In the modern era there was a grace and poise too about Fleming's work at the crease. When he was in sync, there was always an elegance about his strokeplay. That trait also seeped into his fielding, where he seemed to pluck catches with time and ease at first slip.

Other successful lefties such as John Wright, Mark Richardson and Mark Greatbatch usually looked to be working hard rather than easing through their duties.

John F. Reid was a mixture, looking very comfortable with his techniques against spin but not quite so much at ease against pace, as he built up his strong record.

Left-handed opener Rodney Redmond blazed across Eden Park for a century and a half in his only test; Bruce Taylor could look like a leopard and a warthog in the same innings.

Vettori reminds me of Andrew Jones, a batsman with a technique all his own, methods he adapted to suit his game helped by an iron-willed belief he could succeed.

Jones ended up with a test average of 44, better than Fleming and just adrift of Martin Crowe. Jones' answers usually came at the crease, although on one famous occasion in 1989 at the Adelaide Oval he delivered a deliciously spiky suggestion to one Australian journalist.

Jones had been struggling a little on the tour and the journo had written a scathing piece about the New Zealander's style.

In the next game Jones made a ton and as he passed the scribes' bench, paused to deliver his juicy and succinct four-word suggestion. Point made, just like Vettori yesterday as his wrists contorted his bat through some quirky angles to ease the ball into gaps.

The Black Caps skipper knows his game just like the West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Classic? Absolutely not, but mighty effective. Vettori has worked on his style, adjusted it and refined it.

His contributions are compelling because he fights like we want the Black Caps to.

Vettori's technique would not be front and centre in any MCC coaching manual, but his explanations would be in the leading chapters.

Like Jim Furyk in golf, Vettori has honed his unconventional style and buttoned on one of the strongest minds in the game to make his methods work.

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