‘When your life situation changes…’: Kane Williamson drops massive clue about New Zealand’s future | Cricket News

Veteran New Zealand batter Kane Williamson says discussions over his availability for the rest of the summer at home are ongoing as he prepares to return to international cricket for the ODI series against England. Williamson, currently on a casual contract with New Zealand Cricket (NZC), missed the recent T20I series against Australia and the tour to Zimbabwe to focus on county cricket and The Hundred. Speaking in a video shared by NZC on Friday, he stressed the importance of balancing cricket with family commitments. “As your life situation changes, like mine, I’m incredibly grateful for that as well, with three young children, and the balance of where you spend your time and attention is really, really important to me. So to be able to continue to play for New Zealand and play the sport I love at the highest level is great, but balance is the most important thing for me,” Williamson said. He also reaffirmed his passion for the game and his desire to contribute to the team. “I still love the game and I have a strong desire to improve, to train hard and to offer everything I can to the team and that’s really important to me – as a young player or as a schoolboy it was always the case that you worked hard at your game, you were always trying to improve and that somehow hasn’t changed. Williamson noted that he was taking a measured approach to his future in cricket rather than looking too far ahead, mentioning the ODI World Cup in 2027 as a reference point.“I don’t look too far ahead, I mean I guess in my mind there’s probably the ODI World Cup and there’s always other things, Test cricket is very dear to me as well, so in reality it’s a bit more what I want and a bit more what the team wants and where they’re going and what we’re buying into,” he said. He described the importance of maintaining open communication with New Zealand Cricket and the coaching team. “Just keeping those lines of communication open to make sure we’re nice and focused and clear about what that looks like. But also being really respectful of the fact that this is a team in a special place and they’re still trying to build toward something. So for me, in this phase of my career, it’s if I’m here and able to add to it, that’s great.» Williamson also praised the leadership of Mitchell Santner and Tom Latham in the white-ball and red-ball formats, describing them both as experienced and organized.

“So for them to be in leadership roles is no surprise… It’s been about a year now and he’s doing a fantastic job and incredibly organized and passionate about the group and about Test cricket, so it’s great that he’s sort of leading the team now too,” he said. The 35-year-old is looking forward to returning to training and contributing to New Zealand’s ODI campaign, while maintaining the balance between cricket and family life.