Start against England, end against England

Tim Southee made his Test debut against England 17 years ago as a teenager. This time he is going to end his Test career by playing against England.

Southee on Friday (November 15) said he had decided to retire during the historic 3-0 series win over India. But suddenly he changed his mind. Speaking to coach Gary Steed, he felt he had started against England. Say goodbye to playing against them. Currently, his former captain and close friend Brendon McCullum is the coach of the England team.

“Actually, people see what’s in front of them,” Southey said of retirement. Last year was the ODI World Cup. And this year was T20 World Cup. Last 12 months we had test cricket. But I see we have an important series ahead against England. Against whom I started my career. It feels good to finish against them.’

‘Actually I think playing for New Zealand was a dream come true. In that case, my starting time was very special. Today I was sitting here thinking how fast it all went. It was a wonderful trip. When I started in Napier I never thought I would still be here 17 years later. Being able to fulfill a childhood dream and representing the country was a real priority for me.’ He added.

New Zealand’s three-match Test series against England at home will begin at the end of this month. The first Test will be held in Christchurch from 28 November to 02 December, the second in Wellington from 06 December to 10 December and the third and final Test in Hamilton from 14 December to 18 December. That means Southee will end his Test career at his home ground. Play in front of close friends, family and relatives.

So far, Southee has played 104 Tests in 17 years. He took 385 wickets. Out of that he took 5 wickets 15 times and 4 wickets 19 times. His best bowling figure in an innings was 7 wickets for 64 runs. And the best bowling figure in the match is 10 wickets for 108 runs. He scored 2 thousand 184 runs with the bat. Fifty is 7.

A win in this home series against England will put New Zealand on course for one more ICC World Test Championship final.