Christy Simson

OK, non-cricket fans will be confused – but stay with me (please).

Two great sportsmen who have the ability to shatter every longevity record out there had very different days at the weekend.

In the early hours of Monday morning (HKT) Cesc Fabregas was at the centre of Arsenal’s stunning victory over Chelsea that may finally give his team the belief that they can challenge for the Barclays Premier League title.

About 14 hours later and 11 thousand miles away, New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori was sitting in the pavilion in Adelaide watching yet another test defeat for the Kiwis. Yes they were playing the outstanding Australians but still his team had been abject – their best players ripped away from it by the lure of big money in India and England.

But back to the point – which is, that both Fabregas and Daniel Vettori are/were both astonishing teenage prodigies.

The Spaniard started his career at Arsenal at the age of 16 – He is still only 21 years old but incredibly he has already played 214 first team-games for the London side (as well as 37 for his country). If he goes on at the rate of, shall we say 40 games a season, and continues until he’s 40, he’ll have played close to 1000 games.

I say 40 because that’s the age of the big daddy of these longevity stats, Paolo Maldini who has played 878 games for AC Milan –  the World record for a player at one club. Maldini also made his debut at 16. Number two on the list is Brazilian keeper Rogerio Ceni – He’s 35 years old and has already played 831 games for Sao Paulo (and scored 83 goals). And let’s not forget Ryan Giggs who has made 773 appearances for Manchester United (beating Bobby Charlton’s record of 759).

Clearly, there’s a long way to go for young Fabregas but if Arsenal can a win the League or the Champions League in the next couple of seasons there is a slender chance that he’ll stay for the rest of his career. And a 1000 games could be on the cards.

Non-cricket lovers can leave now.

Daniel Vettori was just 18 years of age when he made his debut for New Zealand as a precocious left arm spinner playing for a side that punched above its weight with some big successes along the way.

11 years later he’s the captain of a team that’s getting progressively weaker, but his personal figures have got stronger. If he stays fit and in love with the game, the 29-year-old could well break Steve Waugh’s world record of 168 test matches (unless Sachin Tendulkar gets there before him!)

Throughout his career Vettori has been arguably the best left arm spinner in the business, but because he played for a side that’s found itself in defensive situations – he’s had to concentrate on containment rather than wickets.

Nevertheless his figures make impressive reading – 274 wickets @ 33.29 and 2910 runs at 27.19. Those figures are verging on all-rounder status. Especially when you look at the only men to have achieved 300 wickets and 3000 runs in test cricket history.

Cricket –  Career Test runs/ wickets
The 3000/300 club
                                     Runs    Wickets
Shane Warne AUS        3154    708
Kapil Dev IND                 5248    434
Richard Hadlee NZ        3124     431
Ian Botham ENG             5200    383
Imran Khan  PAK           3807    362
Shaun Pollock RSA       3781    421
Daniel Vettori  NZ          2910     274
Chaminda Vaas SRI      2998     348

So there you are – Vettori and Fabregas – two men at different stages in their career but both with a chance of leaving their names at the very top of sporting history!