that slow bounding run

the easy skip to the crease

left arm swinging into flicked release

tongue protruding cheekily

dropping now to a crouch,

both hands raised

in jubilant appeal

Daniel Vettori was never one to gather much turn

as they so often said

but that didn’t stop him from taking

six hundred and sixty seven international wickets

three hundred and sixty two in test matches

and three hundred and five in one day internationals

a master of deception, flight and guile

cunning beyond measure

nobody slowed the run rate

like Dan The Man

he was, for a time, our best batsman too

ungainly with the willow until he stepped

into flourishing drive or elegant cut

arresting the latest top-order collapse

four thousand five hundred and thirty one test runs

with six centuries

and a top score of one hundred and forty

plus two thousand two hundred and fifty three more in odi’s

from gangly, long-haired teen

to bearded hipster

eighteen years given to serving his country

through the good and the bad

he is our most capped player in both tests and in one dayers

captaining the Blackcaps from 2007-2011

yet he never cared for the spotlight

even in announcing his retirement

he preferred to be understated

waiting for the dust to settle

from the world cup final which was his ultimate game

the type of man they call ‘a student of the game’

intelligent and reverent

even as a young player thrust upon the international stage

his hair and beard went through many transformations

but the glasses always remained

Daniel Vettori is without doubt

one of New Zealand’s finest ever players

perhaps the even greatest

which is a claim not made lightly

and one that Dan will surely appreciate more than most

- Wildcard