Cricket News: Tim Southee's ascension to Test captain is a bold move 

For one, most people expected him to focus more on Tests than they did on white-ball cricket. For the other, the identity of his successor was also revealed immediately. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KaneWilliamson?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KaneWilliamson</a> last week relinquished the Test captaincy to veteran seamer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TimSouthee?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TimSouthee</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ji3qxGHiiO">https://t.co/Ji3qxGHiiO</a></p>&mdash; CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/CricketNDTV/status/1604737660534169600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tim Southee is taking over the mantle to lead the Black Caps for the foreseeable future in the game's most extended format. 

Now, this was noteworthy for the fact that New Zealand have only once had a fast-bowling Test captain in their history – Harry Cave in 1955. 

That means Southee is the first quick to lead the Test team in 67 years. He has led the team in 22 T20Is before, but never in Test match cricket. 

The second thing that was hard to miss about this appointment was that it was, in many ways, maintenance of the status quo in New Zealand. 

It certainly isn't a bold move that can be compared to the way England chose to axe Joe Root and bring in Ben Stokes as the captain of the Test team. 

Stokes and Root would be two very different characters, even if Stokes had long been seen as a skipper in the waiting due to his status as England's vice-captain. 

Similarly, Southee has been New Zealand's vice-captain for a while yet can be seen as someone who will pick up where Williamson left off rather than forge a new path. 

Any comparisons to his fellow captain, Stokes, were quickly brushed aside by Southee, who also clarified his plan for the Test team with him now in charge. 

"Not Bazball. I think you look at the players you've got and you try to make what you've got work," Southee said when asked about the kind of style of play one could expect from New Zealand. 

"England is doing that with style they're playing, but we've had some success in Test cricket doing it our way."

"The way that our Test game has gone the last 10 years, it's just trying to continue that and trying to stay with the times." 

In some ways, he is right – New Zealand are the defending World Test Championship (WTC) mace holder, forever holding the honour of being first-time champions. 

But they are also nowhere near contention for the WTC final this time, raising a few questions over whether or not their 'way' is the right one in the future. 

It doesn't matter that they have chosen to stay their course when Test cricket is heading in a very different direction. 

But, as Southee said, it is about playing to their strengths – and New Zealand would certainly not be suited to playing the game the way their former captain is currently coaching the England team. 

So, the appointment of Southee doesn't represent much of a break from tradition. But it will still be the right call for the Kiwis.