Daniel Vettori is the greatest left-arm spin bowler New Zealand has produced © Getty Images
New Zealand’s bowling all-rounder Daniel Vettori has revealed that he was very inspired by former New Zealand fast bowler and probably the greatest fast bowler alongside Malcolm Marshall to have played the game, Sir Richard Hadlee. Vettori said that he grew up watching the pacer in full swing and Hadlee was one of the reasons he got so much interested in cricket. The 36-year old slow left-arm orthodox bowler said that he is also honoured to have played the game in the same era of his cricketing idols— former Australian captain Steve Waugh and legendary leg-spinner often dubbed as the greatest spinner in history of the game Shane Warne. READ: Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori back New Zealand to beat Australia in upcoming Test series
In a conversation with cricketworld.com ahead of Carribean (West Indies) Premier League Vettori said, “It’s funny because I think some of those guys [Steve Waugh and Shane Warne] that I’ve tried to emulate, I’ve ended up playing against. They were my cricket inspirations. I think from a New Zealand perspective, every young boy of my generation looked at Sir Richard [Hadlee] with admiration. I really liked John Bracewell [former New Zealand all-rounder] but Steve Waugh and Shane Warne were guys high up who I used to enjoy watching.” Daniel Vettori is considered the greatest left-arm spinner alongside Bishan Singh Bedi. He is only the eighth player to have taken more than 300 wickets and scoring more than 3000 runs in Test cricket. ALSO READ: Richard Hadlee: A phenomenon in the pantheon of the greats
36-year old Vettori has been playing international cricket for a long time and before retiring he may well get past his idol Hadlee’s record of 431 Test wickets. The left-hander said that he never contemplated that he will play so many games against Australia (when they included the likes of Shane Warne and Steve Waugh). Vettori would go on to play 19 Tests, 59 One-Day Internationals and four T20Is against Australia, coming up against Waugh and Warne as they came towards the end of their careers. “Then to obviously play a lot of games against them was something that I never anticipated,” Vettori signed off.