Top 5 spinners in New Zealand's Test history

#1 Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori is the second most prolific left-arm spinner in the history of Test cricket

When he made his Test debut shortly after his 18th birthday, Daniel Vettori's sound intellect and serene temperament were early indicators of a promising future. Unlike each and every one of his predecessors, the left-armer went on to have a long and prosperous career at the highest level of the game. For the vast majority of the early phase of his career, he plied his trade on pitches designed to assist the New Zealand seamers. However, as he began to establish himself as reliable operator, drier and conducive surfaces began to emerge.

Extra Cover: Top 5 orthodox left-arm spinners of all time

Among all left-arm spinners in the history of Test cricket, only Sri Lankan maestro Rangana Herath has picked up more wickets than Vettori's tally of 362 scalps. The bespectacled spinner's relentless accuracy enabled him to build pressure on opposition batsmen across a wide variety of surfaces. Having honed his trade under the captaincy of Stephen Fleming, he gradually rose to become the epicenter of New Zealand cricket. Despite taking on the additional duties of captaincy and lower-order rescuer, he continued to remain a significant threat with the ball.

Career Span

1997 to 2014

*Statistics

362 wickets from 113 Tests at an average of 34.36 and strike-rate of 79.5 with 20 five-wicket hauls and 3 ten-wicket hauls

(*Note: Vettori's statistics include his one-off appearance for World XI against Australia at Sydney in 2005)