McCullum: Southee will make fitness call
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has confirmed that seamer Tim Southee will decide if he is fit enough to take the field in the second Test against Australia in Perth, starting on Friday.
Southee suffered a back injury in the first Test in Brisbane and didn't bowl in the second innings at the Gabba, making him a doubtful starter for the WACA Test.
The Black Caps would not want Southee to start the match and breakdown, leaving them a bowler short in a game they have to win if they want to stand a chance of winning the three-match series.
When asked who will make the final call on Southee's fitness, McCulllum said: "He's an honest bloke. He'll tell us. Tim is a strong leader within the group. We trust him completely.
"He's a team player … the decision he makes will be the best for the team. If he is fit, I'm sure he'll be a force to be reckoned with in the game on a wicket that should provide him with a bit of bounce and swing."
One of Matt Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan or Neil Wagner will come into the side if Southee is ruled on what is expected to be a bouncy pitch in Perth.
Australia won the first Test at the Gabba by a massive 208 runs.
Latest
-
NewsCraig Overton displays all-round talents to put Somerset on top
James Bracey also excelled as Gloucestershire pushed for victory over Middlesex.
-
NewsNottinghamshire in control against Essex as 15 wickets fall at Trent Bridge
James Anderson removed Marnus Labuschagne cheaply.
-
NewsEngland could stage remaining IPL games in September as counties contact ECB
It is believed the matches could be wrapped up in little over a fortnight if a model of two games a day and three on weekends was adopted.
-
NewsOn This Day in 1988 – Worcestershire’s Graeme Hick scores 405 in single innings
Hick set a 20th-century County Championship record six years before Brian Lara broke it with his 501 not out for Warwickshire.
-
NewsJofra Archer shows flashes of top form on return from injury
Archer continued his return to action in a Second XI County Championship match at Hove.
-
NewsChris Jordan says suspending IPL ‘the right call’ as he awaits return to England
There has already been plenty of debate over whether the tournament should have continued as long as it did during a public health emergency.
-
NewsOn this day in 2011: Alastair Cook was named as England’s new ODI captain
Cook replaced Andrew Strauss, who retired from one-day cricket, while Broad took over from Paul Collingwood.
-
NewsFormer Australian Test cricketer victim of targeted kidnapping, police say
MacGill played 44 Tests for Australia and took 208 wickets.
-
NewsEngland contigent start to return home after IPL postponed due to coronavirus
The majority of England’s players at the tournament are expected to fly home imminently.
-
NewsEnglish contingent aiming to secure flights home with IPL postponed due to Covid
Positive cases in three of the eight franchises effectively proved that the players’ bio-secure bubbles were no longer able to stave off the threat.