New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori will rejoin the tour of Australia tomorrow

Lynn McConnell02-Nov-2001
Vettori bowls for New Zealand Academy upon return from injury
Photograph © CricInfoNew Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori will rejoin the tour of Australia tomorrow.Injured two weeks ago in Canberra, Vettori has made a spectacular recovery from a tear in a ligament in an ankle and today took four wickets for 36 runs in a 10-over spell for the New Zealand Academy in a match against State Auckland Aces at Lincoln Green.After his stint, Vettori discussed the situation with New Zealand Cricket medical panel member Graeme Nuttridge. Nuttridge then discussed the Vettori with NZC fitness advisor Warren Frost, who is with the New Zealanders in Australia.The decision was made for Vettori to fly out from Christchurch at 6.30am tomorrow to join up with the side which is playing Queensland in Brisbane.Vettori’s four scalps included a key wicket, Matt Horne, out to a smart stumping as Horne groped in mid-air for a ball which held up in the stiff southerly breeze. And Kyle Mills, who scored 158 in the three-day match between the two sides, was bowled around his legs by the increasingly confident Vettori.”It was a dead wicket, there were a few footmarks, but it was nice to get a few wickets,” Vettori said afterwards.He said he felt rusty when first bowling but was better the more he got into his rhythm.He added he did not yet feel 100%, there was still some pain in the injured ankle ligament when he started to run, but once breaking through the pain barrier he felt better.”It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be playing again as soon as possible but when the first doctor I saw said eight weeks it was a blow,” he said.”One of the first questions I asked the panel here was whether I would do any more damage by returning as quickly as possible and they said I couldn’t do any more damage,” he said.Vettori hasn’t lessened his physical workload during the injury. He has been in the gym every day, and on Tuesday at Lincoln he bowled eight overs to gingerly test his ankle and followed up with 12 overs on Wednesday.His regime of bowling to increase the workload on his back, the injury which kept him out of international play last summer, was thrown into some disarray with his ankle injury but he is sure the gym work he has done has helped maintain the required loads.Temptation must be very high in the New Zealand camp to consider Vettori a starter’s chance for the first Test with Australia at the Gabba next Thursday.