People will obsess over where Black Caps swing bowler Tim Southee ranks and how his contribution compares with the other greats.
That is probably the greatest tribute a player can receive.
Most of us get sent into retirement with platitudes and afternoon tea - I’ll have chocolate lamingtons, please.
Southee’s value will be measured in the 389 wickets he took during a 16-year career and in the 46 tests in which he contributed to a win.
Only Richard Hadlee (431) has taken more test scalps for New Zealand. But no New Zealand cricketer has played in more test wins.
Southee, who turned 36 on Wednesday, got almost all the way to the top of the wickets list.
One sensed it was a source of motivation for him. And for a while it looked like he might edge past Sir Paddles.
But, well, his pace dropped and his form fell away.
The last couple of years have been a labour.
Southee was not as effective without Trent Boult swinging the ball the other way at the other end. Together, they were one of the most successful bowling combinations in the history of the game.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad teamed up to claim a record 1039 wickets and bump Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne (1001 wickets) down a spot.
West Indies duo Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh (fourth, 762) and feared Pakistan new-ball bowling duo Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis (seventh, 559) took more wickets than the New Zealand pair.
They averaged 8.32 wickets per test and are New Zealand’s most successful pairing.
Many Kiwi cricket fans had a love-hate relationship with Southee.
If only he had not swatted 77 from 40 balls in his debut and given the impression he was an all-rounder of rare talent.
Apart from clubbing sixes at an impressive rate, Southee’s batting never really improved.
He had the potential but it was enormously frustrating he was not able to make a more significant contribution more often.
Only two players in the history of test cricket have scored more runs than Southee without scoring a century. It is churlish, but he left a lot of partners hanging at the other end.
Still, he is celebrated as a fiercely loyal team-mate, so there is no suggestion he was a selfish player. Quite the contrary.
He was also an excellent slipper. Most bowlers get dispatched to the boundary, but he was a regular at third slip and he did not drop many.
Southee snatched 85 catches. Only four players have taken more for New Zealand.
He will rightly be remembered, though, for those nearly 400 wickets he nabbed, and he had many great days at the bowling crease.
His first effort was as impressive as any. The then 19-year-old took five for 55 against England in Napier in March 2008.
He trapped English captain Michael Vaughan lbw for two to claim his maiden scalp. The teenager set him up beautifully with some outswingers before rapping him on the pad with one that held its line.
It was a bowling trap he leaned on throughout his career.
Statistically, Southee’s best performance was his seven for 64 against India in Bengaluru in 2012.
He was remarkably effective in Asia. When he was swinging the ball, he was awfully dangerous.
But when there was no movement in the air, he was sometimes cannon fodder and that shows in his bowling average (30.21) and strike rate (60).
His contemporaries boast better stats on that score. Boult took his 317 wickets at 27.49 and at a strike rate of 54.9. Neil Wagner, who only recently retired, claimed 260 at 27.57 and a strike rate of 52.7.
The ball was swinging at Lord’s in 2013 when Southee claimed his only 10-wicket bag. Sadly, it was still swinging when Broad took seven for 44 to help dismiss the Black Caps for 68 and seal a 170-run win.
Southee (four for 25) and Boult (six for 32) got their own back in 2018 when they teamed up to bowl out England for 58 at Eden Park and set up an innings win.
Individually, Southee was a very fine player. But when paired with Boult, he was one of the our greats.
Tim Southee
The facts
Age: 36
Role: Right-arm medium fast
Test record
106 games
389 wickets at 30.21
15 five-wicket bags and one
10-wicket bag
2220 runs at 15.52, seven half-centuries
95 sixes
85 catches
Achievements
19th-most wickets in a career (389)
Sixth-most sixes in a career (95)
10th-most sixes in an innings (9)
3rd-most runs without a century (2220)
10th-most wickets in combined tests, ODIs and T20s (774)
