Overs and out

If Trent Boult and Tim Southee have played their last test together it will leave some void with the duo part of an elite club in world cricket. Brendon Egan reports.

Not seeing Trent Boult and Tim Southee charging in from opposite bowling ends is going to take some getting used to.

New Zealand’s finest new ball bowling duo may have played their last test together following Boult’s shock announcement this week. The 33-year-old has been granted an immediate release from his central contract, so he can spend more time at home with his young family.

Boult will have a significantly reduced role with the Black Caps with his decision to step away from touring almost certain to jeopardise his future selection opportunities.

It will likely start to bring down the curtain for not only one of New Zealand’s greatest fast bowlers, but his successful and dependable combination with good mate Southee.

Southee and Boult’s record is up there with the best in the world – and unlikely to be seen again in New Zealand cricket.

They are third and fourth on New Zealand’s all-time test wicket list with Southee having captured 347 wickets from 88 tests and Boult 317 from 78 matches. Only Sir Richard Hadlee (431 from 86 matches) and Daniel Vettori (361 from 112 matches) have taken more.

The Northern Districts men, who have played together since their age-group days, have played 65 tests, 58 ODIs and 31 T20s together for New Zealand – 154 matches in total.

In those 65 tests, Boult has captured 277 test wickets and Southee 264, teaming up for 541 wickets at 27.41. By comparison, Hadlee and Ewen Chatfield combined for 310 test wickets at 26.81 in 39 tests together for New Zealand between 1977-89.

That puts Southee and Boult among the greatest fast bowling combinations in test cricket. Only three other pace pairings have taken 500 or more wickets in matches played together.

England’s indefatigable duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad lead the way, snaring 973 wickets between them at 26.82 from 129 tests together.

The brilliant West Indies combination of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh achieved 762 wickets from 95 matches together at 22.71.

Pakistan legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis took 559 wickets at 22.13 from 61 tests when they were in the same side.

When Boult and Southee delivered with the ball in tests, the Black Caps tended to perform well and win.

They have taken the most wickets for New Zealand in test match victories. According to leading cricket statistician Francis Payne, Southee tops the list with 185 wickets at 21.57 in 38 games, while Boult has 182 at 22.17, also in 38 wins. Hadlee (173 wickets at 13.06 in 22 victories) is next.

Their first outing together with the new ball was at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in India in August 2012 – Boult’s sixth test. Until then, Chris Martin and Doug Bracewell opened the bowling in tests with either Boult or Southee. When they took the new ball in the first innings of the Black Caps’ second test against the West Indies in December 2020, it was the 100th time they had lined up as the leaders of the New Zealand attack.

It was just the second time any test new ball duo had achieved that feat with England’s Anderson and Broad the first to do so.

The next Kiwi pair – Hadlee and Chatfield – come nowhere close, sharing the new ball in just 29 innings.

‘‘When it comes to me and Tim, I wouldn’t say we are that quick. We are definitely not in the same category as [South Africa’s Dale] Steyn and [Australia’s Mitchell] Starc, bowling at 150kph.

‘‘We skin the cat a different way. We look to bowl up and swing the ball. Obviously we use any grass that’s on the wicket, especially in New Zealand conditions,’’ Boult told Cricinfo in 2017.

‘‘There’s definitely no one method that works. I think that’s the beauty of cricket. Everyone brings something different to the table. It proves that different actions and styles of bowling are effective all around the world.’’

With Boult’s left-arm swing and Southee’s right-armers they provided different threats from either end, not allowing any respite for the batters.

In a 2020 interview, Southee believed it was a key ingredient to their success.

‘‘He’s obviously swinging it into a right-hander and I’m swinging it away or I’m swinging it in to a left-hander and he’s swinging it away,’’ Southee said.

‘‘I think we complement each other very well with that left-arm, right-arm combination and it’s something that seems to have worked for us.’’

New Zealand and world cricket fans may potentially have seen the pair for the final time bowling together in tests.