At the end of England’s tour of New Zealand next month, Tim Southee, the iconic seam bowler from New Zealand, will announce his retirement from Test cricket at his home field in Hamilton.
The 35-year-old Southee, who made his debut against England in Napier in March 2008 at the age of 19, has taken 385 Test wickets in 104 games so far, ranking second among New Zealanders after Sir Richard Hadlee (431). He is about to complete a full circle in his career. However, if New Zealand qualifies, he will be eligible for the June World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
His contribution to New Zealand’s historic 3-0 series victory in India—the first by a visiting side since 2012–13—was significant.
Before that series, Southee had given Tom Latham the Test leadership. He hasn’t decided if he wants to continue playing white-ball cricket during New Zealand’s post-Christmas trip to Sri Lanka.
In his retirement announcement, Southee stated, “Growing up, all I ever dreamed of was representing New Zealand.” “It feels natural to leave the game that has given me so much, even if playing for the Black Caps for 18 years has been the greatest honor and privilege.
“Playing such a significant series against the same opponent my Test career started against all those years ago, on three grounds that are very special to me, seems like the ideal way to cap off my time in the Black Cap. Test cricket holds a special place in my heart.”
With 770 wickets in all forms to date, Southee will go down in history as New Zealand’s most prolific bowler in international cricket, surpassing Daniel Vettori’s 696 total. He is the first bowler in international cricket to have achieved 300 Test, 200 ODI, and 100 T20I wickets.
In the ODI format, he recorded a career-high 7 for 33 performance against England in Wellington in the 2015 World Cup, which helped lead his team to their first of two straight World Cup final appearances. Even though New Zealand lost both times, Southee played a crucial role in their long-awaited piece of ICC hardware in 2019.
He is second only to Brendon McCullum among New Zealanders and has by far the greatest percentage of sixes of any player with more than 2000 Test runs to his credit. Nine of those were in his first Test match in 2008, when he hit his best Test score to date, 77 not out in the fourth innings.
“I’ll always be so grateful to my family, friends, coaches, our fans and everyone involved in the game who has supported me and my career over the years,” he said. “It’s been an amazing ride and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Tim’s tenacity and fortitude have been exceptional,” stated Gary Stead, the head coach of New Zealand. The Black Caps community will miss Tim because he genuinely cares about the team, its standing, and its performances. He deserves to spend some time with his family now, and I have no doubt that he will think back on his contributions to the game with great satisfaction in the years to come.
Southee said he will continue to be available for both franchise and domestic cricket.
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