Tim Southee wants more 3-match Test series for New Zealand: Playing more Tests as a whole would be nice

World Test Championship (WTC) winners New Zealand should get the chance to play more three-match Test series, fast bowler Tim Southee has said. New Zealand, who won the WTC final by beating India at the Ageas Bowl earlier this month, played just 11 matches in the championship cycle.

Only Bangladesh played lesser matches with seven while runners-up India played 17 Tests in this period. “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,” Southee said in a media interaction.

“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,” he said.

Most of the series that New Zealand played in the WTC cycle were two-match Test series. 32-year-old Southee, who has taken 314 wickets in 79 Test matches, conceded that it might be difficult to get more considering the future tours programme (FTP) is already in place. He, however, said that having a third match in a series makes it that much more challenging for teams.

“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,” said Southee.

“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.”