NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Cricket / Cricket World Cup

Cricket: Southee fortunes swing upwards

Andrew Alderson
By Andrew Alderson
Reporter·Herald on Sunday·
12 Mar, 2011 04:30 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Years from now, when Tim Southee pens his autobiography or joins the celebrity speaker circuit, the last couple of months might go down as "the turning point", or maybe, for purposes of a pithy title, Full Swing.

The 22-year-old has faced a gamut of life experience in three years with
the team. Yet he remains largely unflappable. For starters, Southee has seen the power false allegations can have to sully a reputation.

A woman sitting on his knee giving him a goodnight kiss on the team's flight to the World Cup morphed into "the worst possible sort of lewd behaviour", at least according to one passenger who spoke to the media and created a furore.

"[The plane incident] is part and parcel of professional sport," Southee says. "In those situations, I've got to remember to make the right decisions in the heat of the moment. Some people don't.

"You're in the spotlight all the time so it's something you deal with, managing your profile and image. There are no excuses; you have to be aware. It's not going to go away. There will always be people looking to shoot you down as quickly as they can; people trying to twist something out of nothing."

That meant a swift and disappointing end for the group who had gathered to follow his every thought on the social media site Twitter.

"I went on it for a couple of days but it is not for me. I leave that sort of stuff to Scotty [Styris] and guys like that."

Much like All Blacks who return to play the occasional match for their clubs, Southee finds cricketing fame carries a price when he turns out for his local club Maungakaramea in the Northland competition.

"I enjoy playing club cricket when I head back for a spell at our sheep and beef farm at home," he says. "I get treated as just another team member; they give you a bit of stick.

"My last few games haven't been too good, either," Southee laughs. "I think I got a first-ball duck last time. Batting's not my strength but people get you out and they're genuinely excited. You sort of wonder why."

He admits it's difficult adjusting to the fishbowl lifestyle.

"Obviously I came into international cricket at a young age. I've had the luxury of experiencing a number of highs and lows in a short period. I could've gone away and given up but I worked hard and it's coming together."

That is an understatement. Southee's international form with the ball has seldom been better. After making his test debut in March 2008 and touring England later that year, he spent time outside the Black Caps squad, particularly in 2009. He has since returned with venom and rebuilt his confidence. Importantly, he feels like he belongs at international level.

Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who is working for an Indian television channel at the World Cup, believes Southee has traversed the gap between proving himself and knowing he is a permanent fixture.

"It's great he's continuing his outstanding form and good rhythm from the home summer," Bond says. "He looks comfortable with his place in the team, knowing his position is not up for grabs. It means he can play more naturally without quite the same pressure.

"He's not far from being the senior bowler in the side. He gets reverse swing and, at the death, has a pretty good yorker. He just has to avoid being predictable at the end and stay confident.

"He's still only 22 so his best years are yet to come. New Zealand Cricket could help by re-signing someone like Allan Donald [as bowling coach] for a period to give him a chance to make a difference."

Southee's statistics verify his surge towards the senior ranks. At the World Cup, albeit against some weaker teams such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, he has 10 wickets at 11.20. He takes a wicket just about every four overs.

That form has continued from the start of the year against Pakistan when he secured his first ODI five-wicket bag in Wellington. Since the start of that series, he has taken 17 wickets at 19.35 compared to a career average over 47 matches of 31.48.

The region he needs to improve is on the subcontinent. From August until just before Christmas, he played six ODIs and took six wickets at 40.66. Donald is working on that.

"He stresses that we can't afford to let batsmen settle into the game these days," Southee explains. "That's where reverse swing is important but it's hard to get the ball into a condition to do it. You don't want the ball getting too soft; it's so vital the ball does something with wickets being so good [for batting]. If it's not swinging, then the batsmen know it's happy days.

"It also means bowling over the wicket and around the wicket, changing the pace and doing those things in the heat of the moment. It's training so when you get hit out of the park you don't think, 'crikey, what do I do now?' Hopefully, [Donald] can stay for a longer period because he's ensuring we set high personal standards at training."

With no Indian Premier League affiliation, Southee hopes to get an English county contract following the World Cup.

"I'd enjoy the chance to play more regular four-day cricket," he says. "The English have a real passion and tradition for the game.

"I think I'd quite enjoy regularly having a beer after a day's play, chatting about cricket and life; much like I do with the Black Caps."

Discover more

Black Caps

Cricket: Task to stay sharp as Vettori recovers

11 Mar 04:30 PM
Cricket World Cup

Cricket: Vettori's days in ODI arena are numbered

12 Mar 04:30 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Cricket World Cup

New Zealand

Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'

White Ferns

White Ferns hold nerve to beat West Indies, advance to World Cup final

White Ferns

Devine and Bates set for ninth consecutive T20 World Cup


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Cricket World Cup

Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'
New Zealand

Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'

Andy Moles hasn't held back about Brendon McCullum and other ex-Black Caps in a new book.

12 Jul 02:00 AM
White Ferns hold nerve to beat West Indies, advance to World Cup final
White Ferns

White Ferns hold nerve to beat West Indies, advance to World Cup final

18 Oct 05:27 PM
Devine and Bates set for ninth consecutive T20 World Cup
White Ferns

Devine and Bates set for ninth consecutive T20 World Cup

10 Sep 02:06 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP