Tim Southee Wins Sir Richard Hadlee Medal At 2022 New Zealand Cricket Awards

New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee won the prestigious Sir Richard Hadlee medal for the first time in his career after being named the Player of the Year at the 2022 New Zealand Cricket (NZC) awards.

Southee was the premier wicket-taker for New Zealand in the 2021-22 season, picking up 36 Test wickets at an average of 23.88. This included five wickets against India in the final of the ICC World Test Championship final that New Zealand won.

His best figure during this period was 6/43 against England at Lord’s ground. He was a part of the side that reached the T20 World Cup 2021 final in the UAE and had also captained the side in the T20Is in India in Kane Williamson’s absence.

It’s Certainly Pretty Humbling To Win His Award This Year- Tim Southee

Tim Southee said that he knows all about Sir Richard Hadlee’s exploits and said that he was pretty humbled to win the prestigious award this year.

“Like most cricketers growing up I knew all about the exploits of Sir Richard and it’s certainly pretty humbling to win his award this year. While the accolades are nice, I think it really just reflects the way we have worked together as a group and played our cricket for a long period of time,” Southee was quoted by Cricbuzz as saying.

Meanwhile, the cricketer after whom the award has been named, Sir Richard Hadlee was all praises for Tim Southee and was one of the panelists who picked Southee as the winner of the award for the first time. He also said that he would be pleased if Southee manages to go past his record of 431 Test wickets.

He said: “You seem to be in total control of your game and bowling as well as you ever have. You’ve got a simple technique which is easy to repeat, and your skill sets have gone to another level. No doubt the 400 Test wickets are in sight and maybe that magic number 431 is in the back of your mind. So, I’ll be watching that with some interest and if you are to reach that mark, I’m prepared to sit here and say, ‘it’s time for me to let it go’. I really do congratulate you Tim on what you’ve achieved and no doubt you’ve got a few more years to give to New Zealand cricket and the game in general.”

Tim Southee is currently playing in the IPL 2022 for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

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