Southee - New Zealand's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, and a champion six-hitter
The retiring Tim Southee's Test career, in numbers
Sampath Bandarupalli
17-Dec-2024
Tim Southee earned himself a memento from Richard Hadlee at his farewell Test • Getty Images
Tim Southee has played his last Test match, hitting more sixes (three) than he picked up wickets (two) in New Zealand's huge win over England in Hamilton. Here's a look back at his long and glittering career in the format.
391 - Wickets for Tim Southee in his 107-Test career. He signs off as the second-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand, next only to Richard Hadlee's 431.
15 - Southee's five-wicket hauls in Tests, the third-highest for New Zealand, behind Hadlee (36) and Daniel Vettori (20).
234 - Wickets for Southee in home Tests, the most on New Zealand soil. Hadlee (201) is the only other bowler with 200-plus Test wickets in New Zealand.
5 - Bowlers with more wickets in Test cricket than Southee's 391 since his debut in March 2008. Only two of these are quick bowlers: James Anderson (635) and Stuart Broad (600).
47 - Test wins for Southee, the most for a New Zealand player. Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson follow him with 44 wins each.
His 107 Test appearances place him in fourth place for New Zealand, behind Vettori (112), Taylor (112) and Stephen Fleming (111).
280 - Wickets for Southee across the 63 Tests he played between August 2012 and November 2021. He averaged 25.45 and struck once every 53.3 balls in this period. Only R Ashwin (388 wickets at 23.69 and a strike rate of 51.7) picked up more wickets in that period than Southee with an average below 26 and a strike rate of under 55.
98 - Sixes hit by Southee in his Test career, which is a tie for the fourth-highest. He finished with the same number as Chris Gayle and only behind Ben Stokes (133), Brendon McCullum (107) and Adam Gilchrist (100).
His 98 sixes are by far the most for any player while batting at No. 8 or lower.
He hit nine sixes in his debut Test against England, which is the highest by any batter on Test debut.
82.68 - Southee's batting strike rate in Test cricket is the third-best for any batter with 2000-plus runs (where balls-faced data is available). Only Harry Brook (88.37) and Ben Duckett (85.88) have better strike rates.
29 - Balls Southee needed for his half-century in his debut Test, against England in Napier in 2008. It is the fastest-recorded fifty by a batter in his debut Test, bettering Desmond Haynes' record, off 38 balls.
Two players since then have made quicker half-centuries on debut than Haynes - Luke Ronchi and Jacob Bethell, both off 37 deliveries - but no-one has come close to Southee's mark.
Sampath Bandarupalli is a statistician at ESPNcricinfo