CRICKET - Tim's sights are set on ND

Tim Southee arrived home from Kuala Lumpur only yesterday, but it didn't take long for the talented seam bowler to start thinking about his next cricketing mission in, of all places, Invercargill.
Such is life these days for Southee.
The star performer for the New Zealand team that made it all the way to semifinal of the world under-19 tournament in Kuala Lumpur will make a welcome return to the ranks of Northern Districts to play Otago, starting on Thursday.
He took 5 for 11 in one game against Zimbabwe, to mark himself as one of the stand-out players.
But, despite doing enough to win a nomination for player of the tournament, Southee had a very simple plan for his reunion with his ND team mates. He just hoped he would get selected. Surely, he must have been joking.
"I just went over there and did the basics and it came off. I did not want to try anything out of the ordinary," Southee said.
"There was not the bounce that you get over here, the wickets were quite low and slow and the bounce was quite uneven. It was a good confidence boost but it was just a bit disappointing to get tipped out at the last hurdle," he said.
That is a modest self-assessment of his efforts. When Southee flew home he was the competition's leading wicket taker, was New Zealand's most potent weapon with 4 for 29 in the semi-final loss to India and, with 17 wickets in the tournament at an average of just 6.64 runs per over, was by far the most effective.
But he still thinks it might take a bit of convincing his ND coach Andy Moles to give him a run, even though Southee's name is still being tossed about by the national selectors to tour England later this year and he returns to the ND fold with international Twenty20 games under his belt.
"I am just wanting to perform for ND. If anything comes it comes, but the main goal is performing for ND. It was an awesome experience to go into the Black Caps 20/20 team, but I was always looking forward to getting into the under-19 team again and getting into tournament mode,'"he said.
Southee has been named in the ND squad to prepare for the four-day game against Otago. The ND squad was in Whangarei training at Cobham Oval today and leaves for Invercargill early tomorrow.
• Northern Districts squad: James Marshall, Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, Daniel Flynn, Peter McGlashan, Bruce Martin, Cam Merchant, Mark Orchard, Tim Southee, BJ Watling, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.