Tauranga, Oct 24 Ahead of returning to international cricket through the upcoming ODIs against England, veteran New Zealand batter Kane Williamson said that the communication regarding his availability for the rest of the home summer is still ongoing.
At the same time, Williamson said he’s excited to return to the national setup for the first time since the 2025 Champions Trophy. Williamson, who is currently on a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket (NZC), chose not to participate in the three-match T20I series against Australia and had previously missed the Zimbabwe tour to play county cricket and The Hundred.
“I mean it's just ongoing communication with New Zealand cricket, Rob (Walter, head coach) and I'm grateful for that. For me it's a lot about the balance with family etc and time away but also the delicate balance of being a part of this team that I've really loved and enjoyed for such a long period of time. So it's great to be back and amongst the one dayers and we'll just keep sort of assessing what's next as we go.”
“As your life situation changes as mine has and incredibly grateful as well for that with three young children and the balance between where you spend your time and give your attention is really, really important to me. So still being able to play for New Zealand and play the sport that I love at the highest level is great, but the balance is the most important thing for me,” said Williamson in a video shared by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Friday.
He still insisted on his strong desire to keep playing cricket. “I still love the game, and have a strong desire to get better and train hard and offer whatever I can for the team and that's really important to me - as a young player or as a school kid that was always the thing was you just worked hard at your game, you always tried to get better and that's kind of not changed.”
“It's been a huge part of my life for 15 plus years and been through a lot as a group and certainly a number of transitions and I guess a new head coach and some new players that those are just they're always there and sort of the leadership roles within the team for a number of years as well so you kind of just go through that journey and all these different spaces.”
“But I've just loved being a member of this group and playing with a bunch of people that are really sort of committed to each other and to the team. I'm looking forward to getting back with the group after what it's been since Champions Trophy and it's a special place and something that we want to certainly continue it to be - so with the environment etc. So nice to be back with a different group.”
Although the 2027 ODI World Cup is approaching, Williamson emphasised the importance of taking things one step at a time. “Not (looking) too far ahead I mean I guess back in my mind is there's probably the ODI World Cup and there's always other things, Test cricket is pretty dear to me as well so really it's a little bit about what I want and a little bit more about what the team wants and where it's going and what we're sort of buying into.”
“Like I say just sort of keeping those lines of communication open to make sure that we're nice and focused and clear on what it looks like. But also being sort of really respectful of the fact that this is a team in a special place and they're always trying to build towards something. So for me in this phase of my career it's if I'm there and able to add to it, brilliant.”
Asked about his time of playing in England, Williamson said, “The off-season was good. I was in England for most of the time and playing which was nice with the family and then nice to be back amongst the group and there's been quite a bit of change since the last time I was here. So nice to kind of meet the new coach and some new players as well and looking forward to the start of the series.”
“It was just a bit of a process, something to work through and I was fortunate with the help I was getting over in the UK under Middlesex there. So nice to kind of get on top of those things and get up and running and get into a bit of training and prepare for the one dayers.”
He signed off by giving his thumbs-up to Mitchell Santner and Tom Latham leading New Zealand in white-ball and red-ball formats. “I mean, it’s great. They're both fantastic, experienced players and huge members of the team. So for them to be in leadership roles is no surprise and played a little bit with Santa with the one dayers and the Champions Trophy and really astute cricketing brain, calm, cool sort of character.
“So I'm looking forward to playing alongside him again and obviously in the Test with Tommy Latham - he's done the job a number of times over the years. Now it has been for a year or so and he's doing a fantastic job and incredibly organised and passionate about the group and about Test cricket so it's great that he's sort of at the helm running the team now too.”
-- IANS
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