New Zealand has convincingly won the inaugural World Test Championship final by defeating India at Southampton. After the win, their key player and veteran speedster Tim Southee has said that they deserve to play more Test cricket from now onwards.
However, they have played only four three-match series out of the 18 bilateral Test series in the last five years as well whereas India also played 18 bilateral Test series but among them, 12 series had at least three games.
“I guess one of our strengths as a side is that we sort of just concentrate on what’s put in front of us, and what we try and achieve as a group, (but) I guess playing more Test cricket as a whole would be nice,” Tim Southee was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t play that many three-match series, so I guess just being able to play more Test matches and hopefully more three-match series rather than two-match series.”
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“But yeah, I think it’s tough with future tours (programme) already being in place up to now, but just being able to perform at this level for a number of years and being a consistent side, I guess we have that right to play more Test cricket,” he further added.
Tim Southee again said that a three-match Test series is more challenging and it always gives more opportunities to test a player as well. Notably, the pace spearhead has done exceptionally well in the WTC Final and helped his side win.
“As players, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game, and you always want to play more. It’s something that we haven’t played a lot of, three-match-series, so to be able to test yourself over three matches rather than just two matches. It’s obviously a lot more taxing, it’s a tougher battle to get yourself up and go again over three matches, but that’s the beauty of it, and it’s part and parcel of it. It’s tough cricket, and you want to play as much as you possibly can.”
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Meanwhile, the experienced pacer said that he would like to extend his career as much as he can and also revealed his inspirations as well who are none other than his teammate Ross Taylor and veteran England pacer James Anderson.
“I feel as fit as I ever have, so I’d love to play this game for as long as I possibly can. Seeing guys like James Anderson, at 38, still being able to do what he’s doing gives everyone hope, Ross Taylor at 37 still being able to perform at this level. I think it comes down to the individual standards that you set yourself, and you’re able to hold those high standards that it takes to play at this level, then I guess age is only a number. I hope there’s a lot of life left in me,” Tim Southee concluded.
