When Tim Southee and former Kiwi captain Kane Williamson take the pitch this Friday in the second Test against Australia in Christchurch, they will both become members of New Zealand’s 100-Test club. It so happened that Southee and Williamson had played their 50th Test match together in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 2016.
Additionally, this is just the third time that two players from the same squad have played their 100th Test together. The first time this occurred was during the August 2000 Manchester Test between England and the West Indies, when Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart played their 100th Test together. The second instance occurred in 2006 at Centurion, when Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis played their historic 100th Test together against New Zealand.
The current captain of New Zealand’s Test team has the following numbers and career records:
5. Tim Southee would become the fifth player for New Zealand to appear in 100 or more Test matches. The only players to have played 100 Tests for New Zealand are Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, and Stephen Fleming. When he completes 100 matches in the longest format of the game, he will rank as the 79th player overall.
Most of New Zealand’s Test matches
| Player | Span | Mats |
| Daniel Vettori | 1997-2004 | 112 |
| Ross Taylor | 2007-2022 | 112 |
| Stephen Fleming | 1994-2008 | 111 |
| Brendon McCullum | 2004-2016 | 101 |
| Tim Southee | 2008-2024 | 100* |
| Kane Williamson | 2010-2024 | 100* |
It should be noted that Vettori only appeared in one ICC Test match, which is not shown in the table above.
4- Tim Southee is just the fourth player in each format to have played 100 or more matches, behind David Warner, Virat Kohli, and Ross Taylor. After Shakib Al Hasan, he is just the second bowler to reach 100 wickets in any format.
Gamers that have played at least 100 games in each format
| Player | Tests | ODIs | T20Is |
| Ross Taylor | 112 | 236 | 102 |
| Virat Kohli | 113 | 292 | 117 |
| David Warner | 112 | 161 | 103 |
| Tim Southee | 100 | 161 | 122 |
2 – Sir Richard Hadlee is the top wicket-taker for New Zealand in Test Cricket, with Tim Southee, the team’s captain, coming in second. After Hadlee and Vettori, he has claimed the third-highest number of five-wicket hauls in Test cricket with 15.
most wickets in a Test match for New Zealand
| Player | Span | Mat | Wkts | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W |
| Richard Hadlee | 1973-1990 | 86 | 431 | 22.29 | 50.8 | 36 | 9 |
| Tim Southee | 2008-2024 | 99 | 378 | 29.49 | 59.3 | 15 | 1 |
| Daniel Vettori | 1997-2014 | 112 | 361 | 34.15 | 79.3 | 20 | 3 |
| Trent Boult | 2011-2022 | 78 | 317 | 27.49 | 54.9 | 10 | 1 |
| Neil Wagner | 2012-2024 | 64 | 260 | 27.57 | 52.7 | 9 | 0 |
| Chris Martin | 2000-2013 | 71 | 233 | 33.81 | 60.1 | 10 | 1 |
| Chris Cairns | 1989-2004 | 62 | 218 | 29.4 | 53.6 | 13 | 1 |
Southee became the sixth New Zealand bowler to take five wickets in a Test match at the age of 19 years and 102 days. Daniel Vettori, who took five wickets against Sri Lanka at Hamilton in 1997, was the youngest bowler from New Zealand to take five wickets in a Test match.
New Zealand pacers score five wickets in their debut
| Player | Figures | Against | Venue | Year |
| Bruce Taylor | 5/86 | India | Kolkata | 1965 |
| Mark Gillespie | 5/136 | South Africa | Centurion | 2007 |
| Tim Southee | 5/55 | England | Napier | 2008 |
| Doug Bracewell | 5/85 | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 2011 |
| C de Grandhomme | 6/41 | Pakistan | Christchurch | 2016 |
| William O’Rourke | 5/34 | South Africa | Hamilton | 2024 |
Wagner, Southee, and Boult as a pace trio
535 – Tim Southee (182), Trent Boult (182) and Neil Wagner (171) have taken 535 wickets between them in the 40 Tests they have played together, with a bowling average of 25.58 and a strike rate of 51.56 as a pace bowling group. This places them fifth on the list of players with the most wickets in the Test format (100+ wickets for each bowler).The trio, which has taken 568 wickets in 59 Test matches together, is only the second all-pace bowling trio with the most total Test wickets, after James Anderson (221), Stuart Broad (223) and Ben Stokes (124). Additionally, they are the only trio of seam bowlers to have taken more than 150 wickets between them in Test matches.
Pace bowling trios with a minimum of 100 wickets apiece have the most Test wicket totals.
| Wickets | Matches | Trios | Wkts1 | Wkts2 | Wkts3 |
| 568 | 59 | J Anderson/ S Broad/ B Stokes | 221 | 223 | 124 |
| 539 | 56 | J Kallis/ M Ntini/ S Pollock | 107 | 215 | 217 |
| 535 | 40 | T Boult/ T Southee/ N Wagner | 182 | 182 | 171 |
| 412 | 37 | C Ambrose/ I Bishop/ C Walsh | 139 | 138 | 135 |
| 383 | 33 | A Flintoff/ S Harmison/ Hoggard | 123 | 127 | 133 |
| 381 | 31 | Cummins/ J Hazlewood/ M Starc | 128 | 124 | 129 |
Tim Southee claimed 81 wickets in his first new ball innings (1-10 overs) since making his Test debut in March 2008. Since Southee’s Test debut, the only bowlers who have taken more wickets with the first new ball (1–10 overs) are the former England duo of James Anderson (116) and Stuart Broad (115). Trent Boult, his former partner, sits close behind him with 70 wickets in Test matches using a new ball.
Southee’s 72 wickets against England rank third among all New Zealand bowlers against an opponent in Test cricket. With 130 wickets against a team, Richard Hadlee leads the pack.
Most wickets for New Zealand in a Test match against a team
Australia vs. Richard Hadlee (23 mats) at 130
England against. Richard Hadlee, mat 97
72- England versus. Tim Southee (19 mats)*
Trent Boult vs. England, round 70 (14 mats)
With 226 wickets in home Test matches, Southee leads all New Zealand bowlers in wickets taken, with Richard Hadlee coming in second (201). Neil Wagner, who recently retired, comes in third place. Southee also holds the record for most Kiwi bowlers at home with 416 international wickets.
61 – Southee’s Test wicket total at Wellington is the second-highest of any New Zealand bowler at a single location. AMI, Christchurch has more than Hadlee (76).
The most Test wickets taken by Southee in a winning cause for New Zealand is 204. With 182 wickets, Trent Boult is ranked second on this list. In addition, Southee has amassed the most wickets of any bowler from New Zealand with 442 in 180 games across all formats for the winning side.
A winning cause and the most Test wickets (for New Zealand)
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Avg | SR | 5W | BBM |
| Tim Southee | 44 | 204 | 22.21 | 48 | 7 | 9/110 |
| Trent Boult | 38 | 182 | 22.17 | 45.5 | 5 | 10/80 |
| Richard Hadlee | 22 | 173 | 13.06 | 33.5 | 17 | 15/123 |
| Neil Wagner | 32 | 143 | 22.46 | 43.9 | 5 | 9/73 |
| Daniel Vettori | 34 | 129 | 21.96 | 59.8 | 6 | 12/170 |
9 – Tim Southee is the equal most bowler from New Zealand to have dismissed a batsman in Test cricket history, having done it nine times against Dimuth Karunaratne in 11 matches. In international cricket, Southee has dismissed Virat Kohli eleven times and Rohit Sharma twelve times (highest by a bowler).
When Southee bowls, former Kiwi wicketkeeper BJ Watling catches the ball off his bowling, he takes 75 wickets, the seventh most by a bowler-fielder combination in 61 matches. After Rod Marsh took the catch behind the wickets, Dennis Lillee tops the chart with 95 wickets.
Test Bowler-Fielder Combinations
| Bowler | Fielder | Span | Mats | Wickets |
| D Lillee (AUS) | R Marsh (AUS) | 1971-1984 | 69 | 95 |
| G McGrath (AUS) | A Gilchrist (AUS) | 1999-2007 | 71 | 90 |
| M Ntini (SA) | M Boucher (SA) | 1998-2009 | 96 | 84 |
| B Lee (AUS) | A Gilchrist (AUS) | 1999-2008 | 65 | 81 |
| S Pollock (SA) | M Boucher (SA) | 1997-2008 | 88 | 79 |
| M Muralidaran (SL) | M Jayawardene (SL) | 1997-2010 | 96 | 77 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | BJ Watling (NZ) | 2009-2021 | 61 | 75 |
The lower-order batter, Tim Southee
Tim Southee is ninth on the all-time Test list with 86 sixes scored during his Test career. To enter the top five, he needs twelve more. Only Ben Stokes (128) has more maximums than him among active cricketers. He now has the second-most. Chris Cairns (87) and Brendon McCullum (107) are the only players with more Test sixes for New Zealand.
The most sixes ever by a hitter in an innings in the first Test match was blasted by Tim Southee during his unbeaten 77 in just his second innings against England in Napier in 2008. Southee’s nine sixes in his first Test match also hold the record for most by a batter. Kyle Mayers’ seven maximums versus Bangladesh at Chattogram in 2021 rank second on this list.
Maximum sixes in the first Test match
| Player | Sixes | Opposition | Venue | Date |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 9 | England | Napier | 2008 |
| Kyle Mayers (WI) | 7 | Bangladesh | Chattogram | 2021 |
| C Greenidge (WI) | 5 | India | Bengaluru | 1974 |
8-Southee is one of the eight players who took five wickets and scored more than fifty runs in their first-ever Test match. His debut five-wicket haul against England in 2008 at Napier made him just the second New Zealander to do so after Bruce Taylor. He finished with 5-55 and scored 77* from just 40 balls, including nine sixes and four fours. He is also the latest player in Test Cricket history to accomplish this.
Players who scored fifty and a five-fer in the same first-ever Test match
| Player | Runs | Wickets | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| A Trott (AUS) | 110 | 8 | England | Adelaide | 1895 |
| L Braund (ENG) | 58 | 7 | Australia | Sydney | 1901 |
| F Foster (ENG) | 77 | 7 | Australia | Sydney | 1911 |
| W Hammond (ENG) | 51 | 5 | South Africa | Jo’burg | 1927 |
| B Taylor (NZ) | 105 | 5 | India | Kolkata | 1965 |
| J Lever (ENG) | 53 | 10 | India | Delhi | 1976 |
| T Dodemaide (AUS) | 53 | 7 | New Zealand | Melbourne | 1987 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 82 | 5 | England | Napier | 2008 |
With the assistance of six fifties, Southee scored 2072 runs in 99 Test matches; nonetheless, he has not yet achieved a Test century. His best score in this format was 77* in his debut game. Southee’s 2072 runs rank him fourth among batters without a century in Test cricket. Southee also has the fourth-highest total in this category with 3115 runs in international cricket.
Most efforts without a test hundred
Shane Warne, 3154 (HS 99)
Niroshan Dickwella (HS 96) 2757
Chetan Chauhan (2084) (HS 97)
Tim Southee (HS 77*) in 2072
Mitchell Starc (HS 99) in 2044
Out of all batsmen who have played at least 2000 Test runs, Southee now has the highest strike rate in Test cricket. His lifetime strike rate at bat is 82.68, which is somewhat higher than Virender Sehwag’s batting average of 82.23.
2 – Tim Southee (29 balls) held the record for the fastest half-century (by balls faced) scored by a New Zealand batsman, having amassed an undefeated 77 runs on his Test debut. Colin de Grandhomme (28 balls) later surpassed this mark in the Christchurch Test against Sri Lanka in 2018.
3 – Southee (2072 runs & 378 wickets) and Richard Hadlee (3124 runs & 431 wickets) are the two New Zealanders who have amassed the double of 2000 runs & 300 wickets in Test cricket for their country to date. Daniel Vettori (4523 runs & 361 wickets) is the other New Zealander. Vettori set this record in his 94th career match, whereas Hadlee done so in just 61 Test matches. With 95 tests completed, Southee is the slowest of them all. Together with Nathan Astle and Vettori, Southee is one of the three Kiwi players to record 1000 runs, 50 wickets, and 50 catches in Test matches.
11-With Kane Williamson’s resignation in December 2022, Southee was chosen the full-time captain of the New Zealand Test team. To date, he has captained 11 Tests, winning six, losing three, and drawing two of them. Out of all the New Zealand captains who have led at least ten Test matches, he also has the second-best win-loss ratio (2.00).
