New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee has pitched for his country be given more longer Test series after his team's victory over the Virat Kohli-led India in the World Test Championship final at Southampton recently.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Of the 18 bilateral series the Black Caps have played in the last five years, four have been three-match series, while the rest have been two-match series.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India, who will take on hosts England in a five-Test series in August-September this year, have also played 18 series, but a dozen of them have comprised at least three Tests. Besides, they have also played a number of four- and five-Test series during the corresponding period.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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 was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on Monday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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. But yeah, I think it's tough with future tours programme (FTP) 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," added Southee, who returned figures of 4\/48 in the second innings of the WTC final to demolish India by eight wickets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On what he thought would be the advantage of playing a longer Test series, Southee said, it will prepare the side for tougher challenges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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."<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2021\/06\/southee-optimistic-about-new-zealands-chances-on-final-day2.jpg", "alt_img": "Cricket Image for New Zealand Has Right To Play Longer Test Series, Says Tim Southee", "alt_title": "Tim Southee", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "New Zealand Has Right To Play Longer Test Series, Says Tim Southee On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Tim Southee has pitched for New Zealand to be given longer Test series after his team's victory over India in the WTC final.", "seo_keywords": "New Zealand Cricket, Tim Southee", "tag": "", "tagging": "New Zealand Cricket,Tim Southee,", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "new-zealand-has-right-to-play-longer-test-series-says-tim-southee", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "2281", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "1", "created": "2021-06-29 10:14:01", "updated": "2021-06-29 10:14:01", "img_from": "Image Source: Twitter", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": "Tim Southee, Southee, New Zealand, New Zealand Cricket, Test Cricket", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "1", "google_feed": "1", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "12", "jio_date": "2021-06-29 10:14:01", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2021-06-29 10:14:01", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/new-zealand-has-right-to-play-longer-test-series-says-tim-southee-78814" }