How Southee bowled them over
In his schoolboy days, Tim Southee was hitting rucks and winning lineouts. Tomorrow, he’ll join an exclusive 100-test club for the Black Caps. Brendon Egan reports.
Wise words from his teenage son convinced John Bracewell he had better take a look at a burgeoning fast-bowling talent.
Playing at the 2005-06 under-19 nationals at Lincoln, near Christchurch, a young man by the name of Tim Southee was catching the eye for Northern Districts.
Bracewell, then Black Caps coach, received valuable intel from son Cameron, who was in the opposition ranks for Canterbury under-19s.
Most players at the tournament pored over their numbers at night desperate tomaketheNew Zealand under-19 World Cup team, but not Southee.
“He [Cameron] said there were only two cricketers there that actually were competitively engaged regardless of the outcome of [making the World Cup squad] and that was Tim and Martin Guptill,” Bracewell says. “He said those two guys were a cut above everybody else in their attitude, so I kind of took note of that.”
Two summers later and Southee was making his test debut against England at 19 years and 102 days old – New Zealand’s seventh youngest debutant. He had played just 11 first-class matches for ND, taking 41 wickets, before being thrust into test cricket.
Talk about a rapid rise for a bloke who was playing blindside flanker-lock in the King’s College First XV in Auckland from 2004-06.
Sixteen years on from his debut, test captain Southee is still going strong at 35. In a serendipitous moment, he and Kane Williamson will both bring up 100 tests against Australia at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, starting tomorrow.
It seems only fitting given the duo have played 82 of their 99 tests together, winning 40 of those matches with 17 draws and 25 losses. They also celebrated 50 tests in the same match, against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2016.
The duo will join an exclusive club with Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori (112 matches), Stephen Fleming (111), and Brendon McCullum (101) the only Black Caps to have achieved the 100-tests feat.
An injury to Kyle Mills saw Bracewell hand a test debut to Southee at Napier’s McLean Park in March 2008.
It was some start for the fresh-faced swing bowler, picking up England’s first two wickets, and 5-55 in the first innings. In a losing cause, he showed off his power hitting in the second innings, clubbing an unbeaten 77 from 40 balls, which remains his highest test score.
“As I got to know him and observe him I noticed he was very observant for a young guy who was a rugby head. He had real game sense,” Bracewell says. “He had the physicality that looked durable, and he had an action that looked durable because he got his feet down quick and he got off
them quite quick for a big guy.”
Southee has gone on to carve out quite the record, establishing himself as one of New Zealand’s greatest pace bowlers.
Only Sir Richard Hadlee (431) has taken more test wickets for New Zealand. With 378 test wickets, Southee is closing in on the 400-club, which only 17 bowlers in the history of test cricket have reached.
“As a kid growing up wanting to have the dream of playing cricket for New Zealand and being able to fulfil that for the last 16 or so years has been a real dream come true,” Southee says.
“To sit here and have the opportunity to be playing 100 test matches is pretty special. It’s a format that is close to my heart and I absolutely love.”
Southee couldn’t be prouder of what the Black Caps have achieved in test cricket.
In August 2008, they languished in seventh spot in the ICC test rankings. Wins were difficult to come by in his early years in the New Zealand side. Southee won just one of his first 14 tests.
He had to wait seven matches and almost two years for his first test win – which came in February 2010 against Bangladesh in Hamilton.
To witness their transformation under head coaches Mike Hesson, then Gary Stead, had been a privilege to be a part of.
Some of Southee’s most cherished memories were seeing New Zealand rise to No 1 in the world test rankings for the first time in January 2021. Even more satisfying was their inaugural World Test Championship triumph in June 2021, beating India by eight wickets in the final.
“To have won a test championship, been the No 1 test side in the world, is a pretty special achievement for such a small country, but a proud sporting country.’’
Southee has been fortunate to largely dodge serious injury through his career. Aside from a broken thumb in September, which required surgery, and an ankle issue in 2016, he has managed to stay on the park. He credited long-time Black Caps strength and conditioning coach Chris Donaldson for helping him continue to play all three forms into his mid-30s.
Having an uncomplicated action and not sending the ball down at 150kph had aided his career longevity.
With video analysis of opposition players the norm and batters able to blast the ball a long way, Southee was constantly searching for small gains.
“I think you have to if you want to play for a long period of time, you have to keep evolving your game. I obviously don’t have the express pace like some bowlers do, but I was lucky enough to have the skill to swing the ball. Looking at a number of ways to be able to maximise the skills you’ve got and also learn a couple of new tricks along the way.”
Ask Bracewell how Southee has remained at the top of his game for so long and he says the top two inches have been key. “It’s as simple as game smarts. He has game smarts, he has game patience and he has execution.”
Southee’s outswinger has been his trademark ball, but over time he has built up an arsenal of weapons.
Former Black Caps bowling coach Shane Jurgensen worked with Southee in his early years in the side before returning for a second stint in 2016. The growth in Southee’s game was marked.
“He developed a three-quarter ball, or an off-cutter, that allowed him to question both sides of the bat,” Jurgensen says.
“Once you’re questioning both sides of the bat as a bowler and you’re so accurate, I like to call it the corridor of chaos, comes into play. That makes the batter feel as if he needs to play a lot more balls.”
Watching Southee and close mate Trent Boult, New Zealand’s finest new-ball duo, charging in from either end with a red Kookaburra had been one of Jurgensen’s great delights in life.
For now, Southee wants to keep playing all three forms. He was realistic enough to know he may have to ditch either ODIs or T20Is to extend his test career.
Southee was in awe of veteran England seamer James Anderson, who turns 42 in July, and is still playing test cricket. Anderson has played only tests since his last white-ball appearance at the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Dropping one of the forms is ‘‘something you have to look at if you want to prolong your career’’, Southee said. “I love test cricket, but I also really enjoy the other two formats as well.”