Now the Black Caps have stumbled on to their own game-changer - a four pronged-pace attack.
The decision to play four seamers in the historic test win against Australia only came about when Daniel Vettori pulled out with an injury.
But the ramifications are likely to be felt for years to come with Black Caps coach John Wright hinting it might be the way forward.
And why not. The talk before the recent test series was New Zealand did not have the bowling attack to take 20 Australian wickets. Had it not been for a helpful pitch at Bellerive Oval in Hobart, that forecast might have been proved correct.
The simple truth is New Zealand is not blessed with a bowling attack which can blast sides out. But playing four seamers allowed the attack to be more effective.
The captain Ross Taylor was able to keep the pressure on the Australian batsman and spread the workload evenly, squeezing every drop of talent from his battery of Chris Martin, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
Deadly Doug was superb, of course. His six for 40 ranks must rank among the top bowling spells by a New Zealander.
Martin and Boult grabbed three wickets apiece in the first innings and were also instrumental in win, and Southee removed the dangerous Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle in a glorious over to help tighten New Zealand's grip on the game.
All four must have booked a spot for the one-off test against Zimbabwe at McLean Park in Napier in late January.
What of Vettori then?
Well, he has to play, of course. He will not be able hide down at No 8 where he has scored so many runs over the years, though. He is our leading all-rounder - has been for many years - and will have to bat at No 6.
He is an awkward and uneasy looking batsman but he has been mightily effective, particularly in the past three or four years.
And having abdicated the burden of captaincy, Vettori's sole focus is on taking wickets and scoring runs. There is no doubt he has the skills to enhance his already extraordinary record.
New Zealand has been searching for someone to bat at No 6 and bowl a few overs since it became obvious the injury-prone Jesse Ryder was not going to be able to continue in that capacity.
If Vettori does bat at No 6 it will create genuine pressure on the top five to perform. Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Taylor and Ryder have had a free run but the emergence of Dean Brownlie has changed the dynamics.
The Australian-born right-hander is averaging 53.60 from three tests and, based on recent performances, is the first picked. Suddenly Ryder's position in the batting order is far from secure.
One issue with promoting Vettori to play an extra bowler is that it weakens the lower order and puts enormous pressure on the wicketkeeper to score runs.
The incumbent, Reece Young, is at best a journeyman at test level and former national selector Glenn Turner is calling for Otago's Derek de Boorder to replace him in the XI. We agree.
The 26-year-old is still honing his craft but has a lot of potential and is Young's junior by six years. In 36 first-class games for the Volts he has scored 1670 runs at an average of 40.73, claimed 108 catches and effected 12 stumpings.
Young has played 111 games with 3945 runs at 30.58, taken 308 catches and effected five stumpings.
Sometimes you just have to try something different - you can not always rely on happy accidents.
