Tim Southee

Tim Southee, a right-arm swing bowler, burst upon the international scene in great style. He was still only 19, with only one T20I cap behind him, and fresh from a Player-of-the-Tournament performance at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup when he was handed a Test debut against England in Napier. Southee responded with 5 for 55 before smashing 77 off 40 balls in the second innings with nine sixes.

It was a debut that gave a clear indication of the career to come. Over the next decade or so, Southee would go on to form one of the world's best new-ball partnerships with Trent Boult, and would also come to be known for his ability to clear the fence. He hit his 50th six in only his 36th Test.

In 2022 he was named as New Zealand's Test captain when Kane Williamson stood down from the role.

Pace and outswing are the main tools of Southee's trade. His bag of 18 wickets at 17.33 in the 2011 World Cup prompted Allan Donald to say he had the potential to become the best swing bowler in the world, and though frequent injury-forced absences have kept him from fulfilling that prophecy, he has shown he can be devastating across a wide range of conditions.

In 2012, he showed his adaptability in the subcontinent, picking up 7 for 64 in Bangalore, the best figures for a New Zealand bowler in India, before bowling his side to a rare win in Sri Lanka with match figures of 8 for 120 at the P Sara Oval. Two years later, his 11 wickets in the West Indies, at 21.09, helped New Zealand achieve their first series win away from home, against anyone other than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, in 12 years. In ODIs, his landmark performance came at the 2015 World Cup, when he sliced through England's batting with a sensational spell of swing bowling to finish with figures of 7 for 33, the best bowling figures for a New Zealander in ODIs.

Southee was elevated as a stand-in captain in a T20I in 2017 and then an ODI in 2018. But despite standing in as captain and remaining a key Test and T20 bowler, he fell out of favour in the ODI side due to the form of Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson and only played one match in the 2019 World Cup, but was still around the format four years later.
ESPNcricinfo staff