KEY POINTS:
It can be hard when you become an aging ex-player to finally accept that these young players can actually play a bit.
They all look so young, so fresh-faced that you see them still as kids. Tim Southee is as about as fresh-faced as you get and yet
he bowls very much as a man.
His performance on day one of this match, while statically not quite heroics, was unexpectedly mature and that excited me. He looked a little nervous but did it show in his delivery? Not at all.
Every job he was asked to do he did with very little fuss and it looked as if he had been doing it for this side for the last few years.
He took the new ball and most definitely used it well. He swung the ball by virtue of an immaculate wrist position and he delivered it in probing areas. So with all eyes on him, he showed he is a more than capable new-ball bowler at test level.
However, what my eyes were training for was spells two, three and four. It's all very well and good using a new ball and being a factor in the game but in test match cricket to be a real contender you must be able to stay in the game as conditions increasingly move towards those that favour the batman.
When you get a batsman as aggressive and confident as Kevin Pietersen, who is set on a good batting surface, that situation would test even the great bowlers, and yet Southee kept him in check and still asked questions of his technique.
In fact, Southee even lifted his pace a little when the ball stopped swinging and varied his position on the crease at the point of delivery.
This shows awareness and composure which are two of the first things to leave a player in times of apprehension and pressure.
Dipak Patel, as New Zealand under-19 coach, knows Southee better than most and when questioned on Sky Sport's Cricket Company about whether or not the young player was ready for this challenge, he was quick to say 'yes' based on Southee's mental abilities.
Personally, I had reservations over whether his basic tools were enough. When I say basic I mean his raw speed. On first view I questioned whether he offered any more than your average New Zealand provincial seam bowler.
The ball will not always swing and then you need a little gas to be effective against test-quality batsman on test-quality surfaces.
Upon research, I was told not to underestimate his pace and I'd have to say those I questioned were right. He gets it through just a little bit quicker than it looks and that is because he makes it look quite easy.
Easy and rhythmical is how he looks when he bowls and I hope that rhythm and ease is what will ensure he doesn't join the Black Caps bowler injury caboose because it would be nice if yesterday's display is the start of an unbroken test-match career from a promising bowler.
