Southee 'chucks in some screws' to cure World Cup injury

 

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee admitted Tuesday that doctors had to "chuck some screws and a plate" into his injured thumb to boost his hopes of making his country's World Cup squad.

The veteran seamer dislocated his thumb in a one-day international against England less than three weeks ago.

However, the 34-year-old said that he was determined to make the trip to India in time to feature in a fourth World Cup after a "crazy couple of weeks".

"I have never had an injury like this before and when it happens so close to a world event, there is limited time," Southee said on arrival in Ahmedabad where New Zealand face defending champions England in Thursday's tournament opener.

"We had to work out the recovery time and the route back was chuck some screws and a plate in it and hope for the best."

He added: "It's still a bit tender where there's a bit of scarring and numbness around where the plate is."

Southee was part of the New Zealand team to make the semi-finals when the World Cup was last played in India in 2011 -- the only side from outside the sub-continent to do so.

Four years later, he helped the Kiwis to the final having claimed a career-best 7-33 in a group game win against England in Wellington.

He played just one game of the 2019 World Cup in England after suffering a calf injury and falling down the selection pecking order and so missed the dramatic final defeat to the hosts at Lord's.

Southee goes into the 2023 tournament with 214 ODI career wickets to his name and, if passed fit, will be in line to renew his new-ball partnership with fellow evergreen seamer Trent Boult who is just three shy of 200 wickets in the format.

Alongside 33-year-old skipper Kane Williamson, it will almost certainly be their last 50-over World Cup together.

"They are two very good mates and guys I've played a lot of cricket with, not only for New Zealand, but going back through age-group cricket, domestically for Northern Districts as well," added Southee.

"I think they are two of our greatest players to have played the game. It's been special to play alongside those guys and see them grow from kids into two New Zealand greats."

'Unavailable' for World Cup opener

New Zealand's Tim Southee will miss the World Cup's opening match against holders England and potentially some of the following matches due to an injured thumb, stand-in-skipper Tom Latham said Wednesday.

The Black Caps will be without regular captain Kane Williamson (knee injury) and Southee (thumb injury) at the tournament's opening match in the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Williamson played the team's first warm-up purely as a batsman and then fielded as well in the second warm-up, but Southee still awaits his first outing in India.

"No Kane and no Tim as well," Latham told reporters ahead of the opener.

"He (Southee) is unavailable for selection. He is recovering nicely, it has been nearly two weeks post-surgery, so fingers crossed he keeps recovering.

"It's a bit of a day-by-day process. But fingers crossed he'll be available sooner rather than later as well."

Southee, who dislocated his thumb in a one-day against England more than three weeks ago, underwent surgery and said doctors had to "chuck in some screws and a plate" to boost his chances of playing in the 50-over showpiece event.

Southee played a key role in his team's runners-up finish in the 2019 edition but missed the dramatic final defeat to hosts England at Lord's.

- 'We can beat anyone' -

The Kiwis are still hunting for their first World Cup title after making eight semi-final appearances in 12 editions.

They come into the tournament as the underdogs, with most pundits handing the favourites tag to either India or England.

"We are not focused on what people are predicting; from our point of view we are solely focused on what we have to do," said Latham.

"If we can play our brand of cricket in these conditions -- which is pretty different to the last two ODI World Cups, in Australia and England."

He added: "If we play to the best of our ability then we are hard to beat on the day."

New Zealand come in fresh from a 2-0 win over hosts Bangladesh, but lost a four-match ODI series 3-1 to England last month.

"I don't think it has any bearing on the next game," said Latham.

"It's about turning up on that particular day and trying to play your best brand of cricket. If we play to the best of our ability then we can beat anyone in the world. Conditions are totally different to what we played in England."

Latham said the team is "excited" to open the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which has a capacity of 132,000.