Test cricket still tops
New Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is not exactly bowled over by the ICC’s radical plan to revamp test cricket and give it supposed legitimacy in the changing landscape of the modern game.
Williamson is taking a short break in New Zealand following his commitments with the champion Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League T20 competition and before he heads to English county cricket for a short stint with Yorkshire.
Following that he will return to lead the New Zealand cricketers in tours to Zimbabwe in July, South Africa in August and India in October before the next domestic summer schedule kicks in.
ICC chief executive David Richardson has recently unveiled a plan to revive the five-day format by introducing a two-tier world championship format that could kick in as soon as 2019.
‘‘Unless we can give some meaning to bilateral series beyond just the rankings and a trophy at the end then interest in test cricket will continue to waver,’’ Richardson told The Times newspaper. His belief is that the growth of domestic T20 leagues around the world, spearheaded by the rich IPL, enhance the need for a more legitimate test format. But Williamson expressed only lukewarm support for a revamp of the five-day game. ‘‘I haven’t heard a huge amount about that,’’ he said. ‘‘Naturally as a board they’re always looking to come up with ways that might continue to help the game grow. At the moment they’re doing a pretty good job and I’m sure they’ll come up with a number of other ways or ideas they might look to employ. ‘‘I think test cricket has a huge amount of meaning as it is. It’s certainly the pinnacle of the game seen by any cricketer. There may be room to apply a format that is structured in a certain way. Time will tell whether that grows legs or not.’’ Williamson, though, was more engaged when it came to his permanent assumption of the Black Caps leadership. That clearly excites him more than any artificial tweaking of test cricket. ‘‘It’s certainly an honour to get asked to do the job,’’ he reflected. ‘‘We know there are a lot of challenges ahead, there’s so much cricket, teams are improving all around the world and it’s an exciting time.
‘‘There’s a transition taking place after Brendon standing down, and a number of other guys that have retired the last couple of years, and the team takes a slightly different shape. But that’s life and something we’re all excited about.’’
The more reserved, less flamboyant Williamson is a vastly different personality from McCullum and he’s determined to stamp his own mark on the leadership of the Black Caps.
‘‘It’s important, as Brendon would always say, that you’re authentic to yourself,’’ Williamson said.
‘‘The team has shown improvement which reflects in the rankings, and certainly the challenge is to continue to improve. I think cricket in general is becoming a bigger sport, and that lifts the standard.
‘‘There are challenges day in, day out, and the volume of cricket is also part of the challenge, and staying fit and fresh all comes into the equation.’’
On the Black Caps’, he said: ‘‘The reason we’ve improved in the last few years is we’ve just focused on what’s in front of us. We’ve put a lot of work into improving the culture and the leadership structure, and that’s helped on the field.’’