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Southee trusts WC wickets to be seamer friendly


By Reuters
Published : 18 Oct 2021 09:59 PM | Updated : 19 Oct 2021 03:15 PM

New Zealand's Tim Southee, one of only two quicks in the top 10 of the Twenty20 bowling world rankings, believes sluggish wickets at the World Cup could work out well for seamers.

Southee joined the Black Caps squad for his fourth T20 World Cup at the weekend after playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the recent conclusion of the IPL, also in the United Arab Emirates.

“It was a great experience and no better preparation leading into the World Cup here in the same conditions we're going to be faced with,” he said.

“The wickets have been slightly different to what you'd usually expect in the UAE, a touch on the slow side. The seamers have actually done a reasonable job with a lot of cutters and banging away into the wickets.

“Encouraging signs for the seamers but with the weather starting to cool down a bit, the wickets I'm sure will improve.”

Southee said each of the grounds at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai having different characteristics, and there were added variations depending on whether matches are played in the day or at night.