Kane Williamson hints on changing landscape in New Zealand Cricket
New Zealand hasn’t had the best of results when it comes to knockout fixtures in ICC limited overs events and their hunt for a trophy continues. The Kiwis have come close on many occasions yet they have lacked to get past the finishing line and they have once again missed out on the T20 World Cup 2022 title after losing to Pakistan comprehensively in the semi-finals at the SCG.
After the loss, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson’s captaincy in T20Is could be under threat due to the rising demands of the format. Also, Williamson had been under scrutiny for a major part of the year owing to his inconsistent form and the strike rate. With 178 runs in the T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, Williamson has managed to finish as the second-highest run-getter for New Zealand after Glenn Phillips which has in a way shadowed his struggles.
Apart from the 35 ball-61 against Ireland, Williamson has mostly played a run-a-ball kind of innings while sometimes it has been the need of the hour. Whether he has the goods to accelerate still remains a question mark, but the future in New Zealand do not look promising too. James Neesham and Trent Boult have opted out of New Zealand contracts earlier this year and hence, Williamson might get another go as the leader in the next T20 World Cup 2024 in USA and Carribean.
There’s a lot of cricket and work load should be managed: Kane Williamson
Williamson mentioned the importance of workload management and felt that the changing landscape is an issue to be addressed inside the camp. He added that the future of the side and himself in the T20I format will have to be discussed in the group after the semi-final loss against Pakistan.
“I certainly love playing in all the formats. There’s a lot of cricket, and so that needs to be managed a little bit. It’s a changing landscape with players all around the world at the moment, and we’ve seen it in our camp as well. After these sorts of events you sort of sit down and give yourself a chance to reflect and sort of look at what’s coming up,” Williamson said as quoted by a cricket news website.
