What is it about Tim Southee?

Is it because he is irritatingly good looking?

He was educated at Kings’ College, he has a check list, the gorgeous overlip, and he has a born to rule manner about him.  And he is part of the Leadership Group, yet he’s a fast bowler.

Tim Southee seems to be the target of any poor performance by the New Zealand cricket side.  It is almost like a reflection of our nation’s psyche that he should be the one to blame for things.  New Zealand played badly?  Drop Tim Southee

Then there was that flight to Dubai.  And those awkward not fully inclusive high five celebrations when he gets a wicket

Following the white knuckle Chappell Hadlee win on Auckland Anniversary Day the immediate talkback feedback was … Tim Southee.  Apparently he doesn’t care.

Some of those deliveries at the death were not the best, but he had a better Economy Rate than Boult, but nobody seems to mention that.

During that match he became the second fastest New Zealand bowler to reach 150 ODI wickets,  He sits in good company there; tied with Sir Richard Hadlee,  Ahead of them was Kyle Mills

Mills was another strangely maligned cricketer on the basis of one poor over early in his career, noting the NZ still won that match.

During the previous test against Bangladesh he became the second fastest New Zealand bowler to reach 200 wickets; albeit quite some distance behind Sir RJH431.

A lot of the Southee criticism, actually too much of the criticism, is based around his batting.

HE IS NOT AN ALL-ROUNDER AND HAS NEVER CLAIMED TO BE ONE.

You wonder if Southee could have his time again he would not have scored 77* on debut as a teenager.  In business, you need to be careful about setting unrealistic expectations.  A team batting performance is not defined by what the Number 9 does, or does not, achieve.

He has some other skills not fully appreciated.  Name a better fast bowling slipper to have ever played for New Zealand.

We are probably in for another few years of this, and it’s a wee bit hard to fathom