One of cricket’s most recognisable characters, Tim Southee, is enjoying the difficulties that come with the changes as well as the game’s ongoing evolution.
Southee On Upcoming Challenges
After New Zealand’s departure for India to play Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Greater Noida, he recently expressed hope that the cricket boards and the franchise leagues find a way of “working together” to resolve the issue. The board of his country was “trying to come up with what’s best for both parties”.
“There are plenty of offers out there that weren’t around years ago,” he said. “But yeah, at the moment it’s concentrating on playing for New Zealand and giving that everything at the moment.”It won’t affect the team, he said: “We’ve seen a number of guys who haven’t taken contracts, guys that are sitting on this plane with guys with contracts.”
Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, and Kane Williamson are a few of the athletes who have turned down contracts in recent months. Ahead of them, Williamson is part of the team for the first of six Tests in the subcontinent (the remaining two are in Sri Lanka and India). Following this, New Zealand will play England at home in November and December.
“If you look at it as a whole – six Test matches in the subcontinent – it’s exciting,” Southee said. “It’s probably something we haven’t done, in my time anyway. It’s a great challenge for the side.”
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Afghanistan VS New Zealand
Afghanistan defeated New Zealand by 84 runs in their T20 World Cup match earlier this year in Providence, knocking them out for 75.
“They are still new to the red-ball format, but we’ve seen in the other formats what a side they can be,” Southee said. “Just recently in the T20 World Cup, last year in the one-day World Cup [where Afghanistan finished sixth], they are an improving side. They’ve had great success in those two formats, and I am sure as a country they want to have success in the longer format as well.
“Every time we have come up against them in a world event in the last five or six years, we know they are an improving side and a dangerous side. Especially in their part of the world. We just saw them making the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, a couple of upsets last year, and the one-day World Cup as well. So we know they are a very good side in those conditions.”
The Test against Afghanistan will be played from September 9 to 13 after which New Zealand will travel to Sri Lanka before returning to India.
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