When news began to seep through on Thursday morning that Kane Williamson would step down from his role as test captain of the Blackcaps, most assumptions over who would replace him landed sqaurely with batter Tom Latham, and understandably so.
As vice captain, Latham has regularly stood in as captain when Williamson has been unavailable due to injury, leading the team on nine previous occasions in whites, winning four tests and losing five.
Southee has experience captaining New Zealand in the white-ball formats - taking charge in 22 Twenty20 internationals and one one-day international - but has never taken the helm in the longest and most prestigious form of the game.
Those factors combined to make Coach Gary Stead's decision to promote Southee ahead of Latham somewhat surprising.
Reflecting on his choice, Stead acknowledged both as exceptional leaders but said Southee was "right for our environment now".
"Both are great leaders in our unit and I guess, for us, it's about trying to share the responsibilities around a little bit more," Stead said on Thursday. "Tim was the guy that we felt was right for our environment now.
"That's taking nothing away from Tom Latham. He's been outstanding in doing that interim job for us, and I'm sure that Tom will take a big place within our team in terms of leadership and possibly the captaincy in some formats if these guys aren't available."
Southee's first assignment will be a two-test tour to Pakistan starting later this month, where he'll become just the second fast bowler to lead New Zealand in tests since Harry Cave in 1958.
The 34-year-old is New Zealand's third highest wicket-taker in tests, with 347 to his name through 88 matches dating back to his debut in 2008. In contrast, Latham, 32, has played 68 tests since his first in 2014.
The combination of experience and the desire to have a bowler in charge gave Southee the edge, according to NZ Cricket chief executive David White.
"I guess we just discussed all the different options and put them out there," White noted, adding the decision was made with the approval of the board.
"In the end, we felt Tim's experience, and I guess a little bit of a feeling of a bowling position as well is slightly different."
Even Southee himself admitted his call-up had been a "little bit of a surprise" but insisted he was eager to take on a refreshingly new challenge at this later stage of his career and build on the superb foundation laid by his predecessor.
Williamson finishes with the second most test wins as an NZ test captain, leading the Blackcaps to victory 22 times in 40 matches. Stephen Fleming leads the way with 28, although his came from exactly double the number of tests as Williamson.
"It certainly wasn't something I'd pushed for," Southee said. "I had a few phone calls the other day and it's sort of gone from there. I've had a number of conversations with Kane over a period of time now.
"It's an honour to be able to do it and jump on the back of the tremendous job Kane has done for such a long period of time.
"It's a little bit of a surprise but I'm looking forward to the opportunity and I'm excited by it."
The first test against Pakistan at Karachi starts on December 26.
