According to reports from the New Zealand media, Southee won the award because of his consistent performances throughout the year in all formats of the game.
Tim Southee
Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Tim Southee has been named as the New Zealand player of the year for a series of amazing performances in 2021. He has been awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee medal which is given to the country’s best performer throughout the year for his stellar performance in international cricket.
Southee is currently playing cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Kolkata Knight Riders and was awarded on the third and final day of the New Zealand cricket awards on Thursday.
Southee was honoured by this medal alongside Bert Sutcliffe Medal recipient Penny Kinsella; the test player of the year, Devon Conway, and both the women’s and men’s domestic players of the year – Nensi Patel, and Tom Bruce and Robb’e O’Donnell (joint male winners).
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According to reports from the New Zealand media, Southee won the award because of his consistent performances throughout the year in all formats of the game.
His successful bowling year included him being named as the winner of this year’s Winsor Cup for first-class bowling. He managed to pick up 36 Test wickets at an economy of 23.88 including best figures of six for 43 against England at Lord’s and five important wickets against India in the victorious ICC World Test Championship final at Southampton, as reported by www.suff.co.nz.
Southee has a total of 338 wickets now, 23 less than second place Daniel Vettori and 93 short of the man who is the all time leader – Hadlee.
“It’s a huge honour to win such a prestigious award,”
“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.” Southee said from his KKR base in Mumbai
“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.
“It’s been great to be a part of this period and being able to win games for our country which is something that’s very special,” he further added on the occasion.
(WITH INPUTS FROM IANS)
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