Williamson confident of being fit for tests
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson says a troublesome hip injury won’t keep him out of test cricket action against England.
Williamson has been rested during the five-game Twenty20 series against England and has batted just four times since the World Cup final in July.
The Black Caps skipper said he will lead his side against England in two home tests; the first starting at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on November 21.
‘‘It’s been an ongoing niggle, really,’’ Williamson told Sky Sport about his injury during New Zealand’s defeat in the fourth T20I at Napier. ‘‘It is settling, which is nice.
‘‘A lot of [the last few months] has been rehab to get the hip right. I had a four-dayer recently and there’s a gap between this series and the first test, so it’s basically training going into it,’’ said Williamson, who trained with the NZ T20 squad in Napier.
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The 29-year-old played for Northern Districts in their Plunket Shield outing against Canterbury in late October, making 26 in his only innings, and said that hitout and the right mental approach will help have him ready for the five-day battles against England, with the second test in Hamilton from November 29 to December 2.
‘‘If you’re looking at preparation and perfect preparation, gametime can be nice – spending time in the middle – but it’ll be tough to come by as there’s not a lot of cricket between now and then. So it’s trying to get the mindset right to go on and execute your plans as well as you can.’’