Williamson and Root: The twin talents
Kane Williamson is well used to eyeing someone else with uncanny similarities. He and brother Logan are twins, after all.
Just before 1.30pm tomorrow, Williamson and his statistical doppelganger will stride to the centre of Eden Park, each wearing their national team’s blazers to flip a coin and determine which one marks their guard first on the drop-in pitch.
From there, New Zealand captain Williamson and England skipper Joe Root will quietly and efficiently manoeuvre for position as the standout batsman and decisive leader in this two-test cricket series, their career numbers bearing a remarkable likeness.
Five months older, Williamson made his test debut at age 20, two years before Root. Both were in India; Williamson scoring 131 in Ahmedabad, and Root 73 in Nagpur, each displaying calm and skill in the unforgiving Indian dirt that would see each named their country’s test captain before they turned 27.
Root arrives as the world’s third-ranked test batsman, one spot ahead of Williamson, with two other test skippers making up the Big Four: Australia’s Steve Smith and India’s Virat Kohli.
Root and Williamson go about their business like surgeons, with soft hands, intense concentration and minimal fanfare. Play the ball late, then with impeccable technique unleash a straight drive or cut to justify the price of admission. Before you know it, the bat is raised skyward – almost apologetically – for another half-century.
That likeness reflects in the numbers.
Tale of the tape: Their test records
Born: August 8, 1990 in Tauranga Age: 27
Test debut: The pair continued at similar pace, each topping 5000 test runs and averaging above
50. On as heavier schedule Root moved ahead on test appearances with 65 (average
53.28), compared with Williamson’s 63 (average 50.62).
But it’s a tough business. Root needs to rebound from a 4-0 test series hiding in Australia in his first Ashes in charge, where he scored five half-centuries but couldn’t convert. Like Williamson who has Ross Taylor, Root has a former skipper Alastair Cook as his prolific batting wingman. Far from being wounded, Cook said Root was better for it.
‘‘He has evolved. The Ashes was a defining moment in his first bit of captaincy. I can only speak from my own experience. You grow in confidence, you really start to understand what it is about after a year,’’ Cook said.
With both setting such high standards, December 30, 1990 in Sheffield 27 v India, Nagpur, December 2012 Played 65, 5701 runs at 53.28, 13x100, HS 254 any relative drop-off in runs shines like a beacon. Invariably questions are raised about burnout amid a punishing playing schedule, and whether they should be playing Twenty20 international cricket at all.
Since the start of 2016, Root played 86 international matches (including 29 tests), second only to Kohli (94, including 25 tests). He reluctantly sat out the recent T20 triseries, then entered the Indian Premier League auction and wasn’t picked up.
‘‘It was a long discussion about that triseries [with coach Trevor Bayliss] and I was desperate to play because I want to make sure I’m playing as much as possible in that format so that I’m giving myself the best chance when that World T20 comes around [in 2020]. But also I’m mindful of the amount of cricket we have got,’’ Root said.
With Kohli missing this month’s T20 triseries in Sri Lanka, an admission he needed a freshen up, Williamson is the only captain currently in charge of all three formats of the major nations. New Zealand’s skinnier schedule helped, but since January 2016 Williamson still played 84 internationals (including 17 tests), one behind Mitchell Santner who was the busiest Black Cap in that period.
Santner is now out for up to nine months after undergoing knee surgery, and Williamson missed recent matches with side and back injuries which showed even he isn’t a cricketing machine.
‘‘I want to play all three forms, without a doubt. It’s a challenge I look forward to,’’ Williamson said last month. ‘‘At the same time, as we’ve seen this summer, guys have had time off and missed a few games. It is a balancing act because the volume of cricket seems to increase every year.’’
There won’t be much rest after these two tests, although the captaincy burden will ease for Williamson. He heads to the IPL where Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody bid $640,000 for his services at the player auction. Then he’ll rejoin Yorkshire for the English county season, in the Black Caps’ six-month hiatus.
So who wins this duel? Williamson and Root have faced each other seven times in tests: Williamson averaging 38.33 against England and Root
39.53 against New Zealand. Last time they met, at their ‘home’ ground Headingley in
2015, Williamson scored 0 and 6, and Root scored 1 and 0. Eerie. New Zealand won that test to square the series 1-1.
Much like their mirror image career numbers, this battle looks too close to call but it could well decide who lifts the silverware in Christchurch.