New Delhi. Former New Zealand captain and fast bowler Tim Southee has announced his retirement. The upcoming Test series against England will be the last series of his career. He is the highest international wicket-taker in New Zealand cricket history.

The third and final Test against England at Hamilton, which is his home ground, will also be the last Test of his career. However, this fast bowler has also made it clear that if the Kiwi team reaches the final of the World Test Championship to be held in June next year, then he will be available to play in this Test.

On this occasion, he said, 'Representing New Zealand was my dream which I saw while growing up. It is a matter of great honor and privilege for me to play for the Blackcaps (New Zealand Cricket Team) for 18 years. But now at this time, it seems that this is the right time to leave the game which gave me so much.'

He said, 'Test cricket holds a very special place in my heart, so playing a big Test series against the same opposition team against which I started my career, and playing on the same three grounds that have been very special to me. I feel this is the perfect time to end my career with the Black Caps.'

He is the second-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand in Test cricket. He has taken 385 wickets in 104 Tests in this red ball format so far and he is the only bowler in the world to have taken 300 Test wickets, 200 ODI, and 100 T20I wickets.

Let us tell you that before playing the Test series against India, Saudi was the Test captain of New Zealand, who decided to leave the captaincy of the team after the 0-2 defeat against Sri Lanka. After this, he came on a tour of India under the captaincy of Tom Latham, where the Kiwi team made a splash by defeating India 3-0 in the series. Saudi played an important role in this series. He may have retired from the Test format but has not taken any decision on the limited overs format.