Vettori praises pace pair

11 March 2008

Kyle Mills earned the plaudits in Hamilton © Getty Images

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Daniel Vettori believes New Zealand may finally have found a seam bowling partnership capable of performing consistently enough to trouble the world’s leading batsmen.

The New Zealand captain took over the side late last year and looked set for a difficult reign after losing comprehensively in South Africa and then being denied leading spearhead Shane Bond because of his commitments with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

But in Bond’s absence, experienced seamer Chris Martin has forged an impressive partnership with Kyle Mills, who is now fit again after long-standing injury problems, to give Vettori optimism they can become a feared partnership on the world stage.

“The thing for both of them is they have under-played both forms of the game,” explained Vettori.

“Kyle has played a lot of one-day cricket and Chris has played a lot of Test cricket and now they’re coming together to form a really nice partnership.

“The key to it is that they swing the ball different ways and therefore when you’ve got two guys going like that at the top of your bowling order it offers you some nice options.

“They are both at the top of their game, bowling well and enjoying their cricket and they seem to be in good health. We’ve had a few injury concerns with Kyle over the years but both of them are pretty strong and enjoying the fact they are the two most senior fast bowlers and relishing the role.”

Mills has played a lot of one-day cricket © Getty Images

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The pair impressed during New Zealand’s one-day series win over England last month and followed those performances with eye-catching spells to complete the emphatic 189-run first Test victory at Hamilton.

Mills tore through England’s top order with a spell of 4-2 in 25 balls and Martin followed that up by claiming three wickets in eight overs as the tourists slumped to 110 all out chasing a victory target of 300 on the final day.

But with Martin now 33, the likelihood of a long-standing partnership with 28-year-old Mills looks slim although New Zealand do have other seam options in reserve.

James Franklin is recovering from long-standing injuries, and they also have Mark Gillespie and Iain O’Brien in reserve while Tim Southee has just returned from the Under-19 World Cup as player of the tournament.

“A few years with the pair of them together would be nice,” admitted Vettori. “Chris is 33 but he probably hasn’t had as much cricket as a lot of 33-year-olds because he started a bit later.

“If you think of those two together and the group of guys coming underneath them like Mark Gillespie, Iain O’Brien, Tim Southee and James Franklin, hopefully it’s a nice group of bowlers coming together who can compete in all conditions.”

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Mills and Martin will again be given the new ball for this week’s second Test starting on Thursday at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, which is traditionally a challenging experience for all types of bowling because of the strong winds which swirl around the ground.

Vettori admitted: “This is really the only ground in world cricket that I’ve played at that is as difficult as this for the wind. It’s not because it’s so hard, it’s because it’s so inconsistent and it can blow you off your mark and gust the whole time.

“You really need to get a feel for it and the guys who have done it a lot you do tend to see them stand out.

“Guys like myself, Iain O’Brien and Jacob Oram have done it a lot and whoever does it for England, it’s probably going to be their first time and it can be quite disrupting through a Test match.”

New Zealand may favour an unchanged line-up, which includes left-arm spinner Vettori and off-spinner Jeetan Patel, but overhead conditions may dictate adding an extra seamer to their line-up.

Struggling top-order batsman Mathew Sinclair may give way to all-rounder Grant Elliott while Patel may come under pressure from Gillespie.