Tom Moody flabbergasted at New Zealand leaving out Tim Southee due to workload concerns

The New Zealand team has undergone a lot of struggle in their ongoing Test tour of Australia. They lost the first two Tests by huge margins, losing the series as well and on top of that, the team caught a bad bug which led to making them five changes in the team for the ongoing Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) Test match, the third of the series.

The Kiwis handed Tom Latham the captain’s blazer and Glenn Phillips got a Test debut, while Kane Williamson and four other players missed the match due to illness. Jeet Raval was given another go in the team at No.3, while Todd Astle and Will Somerville got a go in the team, as the management bewilderedly left out Tim Southee out of the playing XI. This led to many legends of the game expressing astonishment at the decision because the reason to do so was more absurd.

New Zealand decided to leave out their most experienced bowler

Tim Southee was the captain of the New Zealand team when the last time Kane Williamson missed a Test due to a shoulder injury against Bangladesh, a match that was later cancelled due to Terrorist incidents in New Zealand. However, in this Test match, the Kiwi team management decided to leave out their most experienced bowler in order to manage his workload, leaving Tom Moody to question the decision on Twitter.

“If it’s true that Tim Southee has been left out because of workload concerns I’m flabbergasted, most experienced bowler left in the pack in a time of need! Would love to know if he agreed with this protocol? #AUSvNZ,” tweeted Moody.

If it’s true that Tim Southee has been left out because of workload concerns I’m flabbergasted, most experienced bowler left in the pack in a time of need! Would love to know if he agreed with this protocol? #AUSvNZ

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) January 3, 2020

New Zealand is scheduled to host India for a full series across all formats which include six T20 matches, three one-day Internationals, and a two-match Test series. Hence, they might have rested their best and fittest bowler to avoid any more injury concerns.

However, Matt Henry suffered a hit to his finger in the 12^th over of the match and Southee came onto the field as a substitute much to the dismay of many. Southee has taken 270 career wickets at an average of 29.82 since his debut in 2008 with a strike rate of 59.2 and has taken nine Test five-wicket hauls.

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