A quick quiz for you.
Who, in the history of test cricket, hit the biggest sixes without scoring a century?
Good luck to those of you who said Tim Southee (although this article is about a retiring New Zealander, it's not exactly the wildest stab in the dark).
Southee has cleared the ropes 95 times in his Test career but never cleared three figures.
Southee has smashed 95 sixes in Test cricket
His best innings remains the 77 not out from 40 balls on his debut against England in Napier in 2008 at the age of 19 – a brilliant knock that included nine sixes .
Southee's Test tenure will end as it began, at home in England, with the batsman set to bow out at his home ground of Seddon Park in Hamilton, bringing the curtain down 16 years at the top.
He might want to sign off with a century of sixes or, in a dream world, a century full stop. The way things have gone for New Zealand with the bat in this series it is likely that he will get a double.
Right time for Southee to move out?
Bowling, of course, is Southee's strongest suit.
Only one New Zealander, the great Sir Richard Hadlee, has more than his 389 Test wickets and no New Zealander has more than 774 international wickets. Only nine people from anywhere have cut that second number.
But now it feels like the right time for Southee to say goodbye.
Southee averages over 60 with the ball in Test cricket in 2024
His 15 wickets in 10 Tests in 2024 have come at an average of 61.66 and he has not taken more than two wickets in an innings since March 2023.
His pace is down and England have let him down, with his series stats reading a dismal 4-246 over 49 overs, at an average of 61.50 and a strike rate of 73.50.
There has been some sizzle with the new ball at times but Southee has been largely ineffective. That has led to chatter that it went too far. There has even been speculation that he might not get to say goodbye to Hamilton.
We want to do the right thing and send Tim off in style. It is very special to celebrate someone like Tim, who is certainly a great test cricketer. His skill level is very high. He's a good guy all around, a good storyteller, not shy of a practical joke. He will be missed.
However, with the series not on the line – England are 2-0 up with one to play – and New Zealand's hopes of reaching next year's World Test Championship final at Lord's are almost non-existenthe is likely to get one last game before William O'Rourke, Nathan Smith and, if they can regain fitness, Kyle Jamieson will lead the Black Caps bowling attack for the foreseeable future.
Southee's declining numbers should not take away from how good he has been for over a decade and a half, generating runs, mostly, but also mastering the art of the cutter.
He and long-time bowling partner Trent Boult (317 wickets in 78 Tests) seem to be unlucky to be around at the same time as England's James Anderson and Stuart Broad, meaning his Their influence on the game is sometimes overlooked.
Only Sir Richard Hadlee has more Test wickets for New Zealand than Southee (pictured)
Southee there for New Zealand's biggest wins
New Zealand will never go to see him, mind you.
Southee was there when Kiwis win World Test Championship in Southampton in 2021taking four wickets in the second innings – and hitting two sixes in his only foray with the bat – as his side beat India. And he was there for the recent 3-0 win in India, too. as New Zealand in 2012 became the first team from England to beat that cricketing juggernaut on their home turf.
Although not at his best in the subcontinent, Southee started the clean sweep.
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New Zealand handed India their first Test series defeat at home in 12 years before going on to claim a 3-0 sweep
He removed India captain Rohit Sharma in the first Test as India were bowled out for just 46he then hit four sixes in his 65 not out from 73 balls as New Zealand replied with 402 all out.
Then, in the second Test, he bowled Rohit with a crackerjack delivery before taking an athletic catch throughout, to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja, clinched the series victory and arguably the greatest result in New Zealand men's cricket historyless than a week later the women did their part by winning the T20 World Cup.
Southee helps start the English revolution
Southee has also made a huge impact on English cricket.
After his 7-33 in the 2015 World Cup 50-over skittled England for 123 – and then Brendon McCullum powered the Black Caps past that total in just 12.2 overs – a white ball revolution was sparked, with Eoin Morgan's team going from chumps to champions in four years.
Southee took seven wickets as New Zealand beat England in the 2015 Cricket World Cup
That England revival cost New Zealand in the end, with the Kiwis being counted back from limits in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord's after the nations completed every corner in the 50-run plus rule in the Super Over that followed. Of course the fringes.
Southee was only a fielder for New Zealand in that match but considering his love of finishing, he might have been useful in the XI.
And considering how much he loves a finish, perhaps his only regret in his Test career is that he was never the all-rounder he threatened to become. Seven fifties and a batting average of 15.52 seems a little unfair.
It does mean, however, that it remains the answer to that question raised at the start of this article and whatever happens to Hamilton in his final Test, Southee's bowling exploits means he will always remain a great cricketer in New Zealand and the game as an entrepreneur. whole
