`Exhausted` Vettori faces `black cloud` over Test future after Leeds Test pull out

Wellington: According to the New Zealand media, master spinner Daniel Vettori has a black cloud hovering over his Test-playing future after he pulled out of the second test against England at Leeds, fearing that his body cannot cope with the strenuous exertion in the five days that will follow.

Although the former captain was poised to overtake Stephen Fleming for a record 112th test for New Zealand, against England, he instead opted to pull out of the Test, leaving him on 111 tests for New Zealand, the same as Fleming. Vettori, who played his most recent test against West Indies in July, has since then played only five Twenty20 internationals as he was struggling with various ailments, notably an Achilles tendon problem that took six months to get right. Vettori fears that his body cannot withstand the pressures of a heavy bowling workload that began when he was 18, adding that his fears about his rickety body and uncertainty about his playing future in the longer formats may probably see out his international career in the limited-overs game. And with his obvious successor, Bruce Martin, injured after struggling in his last two tests, it leaves a gaping hole in New Zealand`s already-thin test spinning stocks. According to captain Brendon McCullum, there is a serious need to have a decision about Vettori`s playing future, adding that it would be unrealistic to think that the cricketer can continue to keep playing in all the three forms of the game. However, McCullum further said that he still is wants Vettori to have a place in the squad, adding that it would be a big mistake to sweep away all those test matches and close to 400 wickets and six centuries of experience. Initially, Vettori retired from ODI and T20 international cricket after stepping down from the captaincy after the 2011 World Cup. His decision to be a test specialist and play the Indian Premier League and Australian Big Bash, has almost come full circle after he returned for the World T20 in September, then will play his first ODI in over two years if he`s passed fit for Lord`s next Friday. ANI