At the post-match presentations in New Zealand Stephen Fleming was invariably asked the same two questions. The first was always how to improve on some dire performances in their heavy losses to Australia. The second - without fail - was about their only world-class performer.
"And what about Dan Vettori?"
There was no need to trumpet his figures or embellish his performance. Fleming would exhale in relief that he had him - or that he was getting him back when he missed a one-dayer. Vettori, on the other hand, may not be as grateful for his team-mates. The batsmen rarely give him enough runs to show his true value and the bowlers fail to take the top-order wickets, forcing him into defence instead of attack.
Vettori is New Zealand's Andy Flower - each man has done great things, getting by with little help from their friends. Richard Hadlee at least had Martin Crowe, Courtney Walsh held hands with Curtly Ambrose and
Brian Lara, and Muttiah Muralitharan delivered around Aravinda de Silva before Sri Lanka's new breed arrived. For New Zealand, Fleming occasionally approached world-class form but has recently slipped away, so Vettori is left with nobody.
Spin bowlers need support, mainly from their fast bowlers, but also from their slow-bowling colleagues and their batsmen. Vettori, however, is handed scraps when he deserves to be waited upon. His team-mates have let a great bowler be reclassified merely as good. He has lugged their weight almost since debuting against England in 1996-97. A spot in the World XI for the Super Series Test against Australia may be his only chance of getting the allround polish he's been lacking for 62 Tests.
Still only 26 and four away from 200 wickets, Vettori's brilliance is shown in his constant threat against Australia. Without a five-wicket haul since the drawn series in 2001-02, he dusted his fingers with three in Bangladesh and has since recorded two against the world champions. Left-arm spin, like the Kiwis' tendency to ignore Test cricket, befuddles Australians. Phil Tufnell managed it occasionally, Murali Kartik turned one-off rings around them at Mumbai last year, but Vettori does it regularly. And yey his side is rarely on top.