Tim Southee has admitted that he is not guaranteed to captain New Zealand’s next set of Test matches, which will be played in the subcontinent against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and India later this year.
Southee looked devastated after a crushing three-wicket loss to Australia in Christchurch. New Zealand had Australia 34 for 4 and 80 for 5, defending 278, but were unable to complete the task, as Alex Carey, Mitchell Marsh, and Pat Cummins led the visitor’s home.
It means New Zealand’s 13-year Test winless skid against Australia will continue, while their 31-year home drought against their neighbor will become endless, with no future tour scheduled.
Southee questioned his own form before of his 100th Test at Hagley Oval, claiming he had not taken as many wickets as he had hoped. He only got four wickets in the series, despite strong bowling from Matt Henry, Ben Sears, and Will O’Rourke.
Southee captained New Zealand’s most recent Tests in Bangladesh last year, when they only picked two seamers, and he understands how precarious his position is.
“We’ll see,” Southee said. “Obviously you go to Asia, the make-up of the side changes slightly with spin becoming the main threat in that part of the world. But we’ll see when we get there. We’ll deal with this tonight and look to move forward to what’s to come.”
Southee’s captaincy came under scrutiny on day four in Christchurch, as Australia wriggled their way out of difficulty.
He chose not to bowl Glenn Phillips until the final over before lunch, when Marsh and Carey had both reached half century and had a 94-run unbroken stand. Phillips had already picked up both men in the series, including Carey twice. He nearly had Marsh out on the stroke of lunch, but an inside edge saved him.
Southee said there was plenty for the seamers to entice him to keep up the pace through the first 90 minutes of the rain-shortened session.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Southee said. “But I think the amount of times we went past the bat in that first session, we felt that seam was the option. We created a few chances through that first session. I think we felt that seam was the right move.”
He also justified the pick of Scott Kuggeleijn, who bowled only three overs in the second innings despite being a specialist bowler. Kuggeleijn only gave 10 runs off the bat, but his maiden contained crucial extras of four byes and six leg byes from three balls slanted down the leg side.
“He’s been a been a standout performer at domestic level,” Southee said. “He added a very valuable 40-odd runs for us batting in that No.8 position and when you play the four seamers you’re looking for someone who can bat a bit.
“Scott’s got a handful of first-class hundreds and we saw how valuable that 40-odd runs were.
“Disappointing with the ball. But I think he’s still chimed in with a couple of important wickets in the first Test in Wellington and 40-odd runs here. It’s tough for everyone to play a role at times.”
Southee also declined to blame the loss on his team’s fielding performance. They missed crucial catches in Wellington, and Rachin Ravindra’s drop of Marsh in the second over on Monday morning proved costly.
Marsh was 28 at the time and went on to earn 80. Although Southee did mention that without the drop, which cost a single, they might not have gotten Travis Head out the following ball.
“Guys don’t mean to drop catches,” Southee said. “Everyone works hard on the fielding. Obviously that one went down early in the day. But if we take that then we don’t get the wicket the next ball and who’s to say Head doesn’t go on and have an innings like Marsh. You look back on a number of things. But the guys work hard on their fielding.”
Southee claimed his side had a mental block against Australia, but he couldn’t pinpoint why they continued to suffer in crucial situations against them.
“I’m not too sure,” Southee said. “They’re a tough side to beat, not only in Australia, but when they travel as well.
“I think when you play the best you’ve got to be at your best for those periods, that little bit longer. We had moments through both Test matches where we could have been a little bit better at times and then things could have been slightly different. But it was just another great Test and there’s been plenty of those over the last few years.”
