Williamson determined to pad up in all formats
Kane Williamson has reaffirmed his desire to continue leading the Black Caps in all three formats, even as concerns mount about his suitability as a Twenty20 player and the impact of a hectic international schedule.
The 32-year-old rejoined the Black Caps in Auckland on Thursday ahead of yesterday’s first one-day international against India at Eden Park, having missed the third T20 in Napier on Tuesday due to a prearranged medical appointment.
Before that, his run of questionable innings in cricket’s shortest format continued in the second T20 at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday, where he made 61 off 52 balls as the Black Caps were dismissed for
125 while chasing 192 to win.
For most of Williamson’s innings, his strike rate hovered around 100, or a run a ball, and as former Black Caps batting coach Craig McMillan noted in commentary for Spark Sport, it wasn’t the first time he’d got stuck going slow in 2022.
There had been a similar display when New Zealand lost to England at the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier this month – one of seven innings in 2022 where Williamson’s strike rate was below 105 runs per 100 balls, putting pressure on his team-mates to score extra fast in a format where a team strike rate of 120 to 130 is usually about par.
Former Black Caps coach Mike Hesson has suggested a move from No 3 to No 4, reducing the chance of Williamson batting in the power play, might be one possible solution, if he continues to be part of the team’s T20 plans.
The next T20 World Cup is not until mid-2024 in the West Indies and Williamson has no plans to stop playing the format, even though he is still searching for his best form across all three formats since stepping back from the game last summer to let a persistent elbow injury heal.
‘‘I still love playing all the three formats and I enjoy changing between the three,’’ he said on
Go to stuff.co.nz for coverage of yesterday’s first ODI between New Zealand and India at Eden Park.
Thursday. ‘‘As a player I’m always looking to keep improving and I certainly have that motivation.
‘‘It was a bit frustrating the other night and sometimes that’s the way it goes.’’
In the wake of the World Cup, Williamson was released by his Indian Premier League franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, after a 2022 campaign in which he scored 216 runs at an average of 21.6 and a strike rate of 93.5 – the lowest of any batter to face at least 100 balls during the season.
His services will be up for grabs in the 2023 auction on December 23, which will serve as an indication of how much his batting is valued by the 10 teams that make up the world’s biggest T20 competition.
He also holds plenty of value as a leader, which will help his cause.
When asked whether he expected to be picked up, Williamson said: ‘‘We’ll have to wait and see. It’s certainly not up to me. People make decisions on their teams and what they’re after and that’s just the nature of how it works.’’
With four matches to go – three ODIs against India and the first of two tests in Pakistan – the Black Caps are set to finish 2022 having had a record 46 matches in the calendar year, beating the old mark of 44 set in 2009 and 2015.
They are then set to blow past that mark in 2023, with up to 60 matches on the cards under the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, depending on how far they advance at the ODI World Cup in India next October and November and the exact timing of a visit from Bangladesh at the end of the year.
With that World Cup and tests taking priority after a period where T20 took centre stage, with two World Cups taking place in the space of 13 months, it’s possible Williamson, one of the Black Caps’ few allformat players, could be rested for much of their 20-over action next year.