The Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was Vettori's third first-class match; this one at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, is his fourth. The highest position he has occupied in a batting order was 11, until this game, when he shambled out somewhat self-consciously at No 9. The most first-class overs he had bowled off the reel was 14, until yesterday, when he bowled 23.

Only he, and his accurate exploitation of the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump, appeared to stand before England winning the series 2-0 and escaping scot-free from a winter of so much discontent.

Only he, and his calm temperament, which would carry New Zealand's bowling attack into the final day of the series, could inspire his team to level at 1-1 and give cricket in his country its much needed boost.

There was nothing else to upset England's run chase on this excellent pitch, just the rough and the 18-year-old.

``Aw,'' said Vettori after the fourth day's play, ``I'm enjoying it immensely and looking forward to bowling into those footmarks again tomorrow. Yeah, I've bowled more than 20 overs in a row before, but only at school, not in the real stuff.''

This was the real stuff all right, bowling at Michael Atherton, the arch defender, and Alec Stewart, the principal attacker, in a Test match. He had already dealt a further blow to Nick Knight's misery by persuading him to drive into the hands of mid-off and after that joy he settled into an examination of Stewart's patience and of Atherton's defence.

Remarkably, Vettori has shown no sign of nerves. Maybe he has not had time to worry about his responsibility, maybe he is simply a sane and balanced character of the sort scarcely found in the modern hurly-burly of international cricket. Certainly he is ma- ture beyond the norm, which was illustrated when he switched to bowl around the wicket to Stewart, in the orthodox fashion, and drifted a ball into the pads, at which the batsman poked and edged to short leg.

The change of angle had done the trick: the relentless inquisition with some balls spinning and spitting violently - one hit Stewart above the eyebrow - had set it up.

The freshman had come on to bowl at 2.30pm and three hours later left the field to a standing ovation with figures of 23-5-33-2. As if that were not enough, he had come in to bat at 10.45am during the morning and left the field to a first enthusiastic reception when New Zealand were all out at 12.25pm, unbeaten himself with 29.

Y ES, he can bat too, and his tenacious, and at times exhilarating, partnership with the flamboyant Chris Cairns gave New Zealand something formidable at which to bowl.

``There are a lot of good players in England,'' he said. ``I saw them on our under-19 tour there last winter [our summer]. I reckon some of the guys we played against are good enough to get a go soon.'' This was not meant to sound like it sounded, but it hit a nerve.

Which 18-year-old Englishman will be thrust into Test cricket next summer, we wonder. How long will clean young talent fester in county second XIs ``learning their trade''?

Vettori already has his trade. A simple run to the crease, a high action, a full follow-through and a good idea of which pace to bowl, which flight to use, and on what surface. When he bats he stands still, defends straight and hits freely at anything he fancies rather as Gower might have done had he been a bowler. Best of all, Vettori already has his opportunity and, since he does not yet know failure, is out to take it.

Conversely, England know all about failure and appeared frightened by its possibility. They had a fine chance to take the match away from New Zealand yesterday afternoon by not allowing Vettori to find his groove - Atherton and Knight, though not without alarm, had scored eagerly against the new ball - but instead they kicked at everything wide and blocked most that was straight. This approach gave Vettori the luxury of discovering his rhythm and therefore his confidence, because England were uncertain of their method of attack, so opted instead to wear down their young opponent by defence.

This was just about acceptable for Atherton, but not for Stewart whose strength is in attack. During this intriguing last hour England lost their way - much as New Zealand had done the day before against Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell - by allowing an 18year-old to win the test of nerve.

Atherton survived and there is enough class in the middle order to help him, but even if they win this battle, as they should against obviously weaker opposition, their blinkered appraisal of opportunity continues to hinder their overall progress.