Kane Williamson

Kane Stuart Williamson is a New Zealand international cricketer and captain of the New Zealand national team in limited overs cricket. On 27 February 2023, Williamson became the all – time leading run – scorer for New Zealand in Test cricket.

A right – handed batsman and an occasional off spin bowler, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary batsmen and captains New Zealand has ever produced and the greatest New Zealand batsman of all time.

He captained New Zealand to victory in the 2021 ICC World Test Championship final and to the finals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup. He was also a part of the New Zealand squad to finish as runners – up at the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Early life

His father Brett was a sales representative who had played under – 17 and club cricket in New Zealand and his mother Sandra had been a representative basketball player.

He has a twin brother Logan, who is one minute younger than him. The brothers have three older sisters, Anna, Kylie and Sophie. All three were accomplished volleyball players, and Anna and Sophie were in New Zealand age group teams.

Williamson’s grandmother Joan Williamson-Orr served as mayor of Taupō. His first cousin Dane Cleaver has also played international cricket for New Zealand.

Williamson played senior representative cricket at the age of 14 and first – class cricket at 16. He attended Tauranga Boys’ College from 2004 to 2008, where he was head boy in his final year. He was coached by Pacey Depina who described Williamson as having “a thirst to be phenomenal – but not at anyone else’s expense.” He reportedly scored 40 centuries before he left school.

He has three children, two daughters and a son with wife Sarah Raheem whom he met in 2015. During the New Zealand vs Pakistan 2014 ODI series, Williamson donated his entire match fee for all five ODIs to the victims of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre.

Domestic Career:

• Williamson has represented New Zealand at the 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 editions of the Cricket World Cup and 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021 and 2022 editions of the ICC World Twenty20.
• He made his full – time captaincy debut for New Zealand in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India. He captained New Zealand at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, leading the team to the final and winning the Player of the Tournament award in the process.
• On 31 December 2020, he reached a Test batting rating of 890, surpassing Steve Smith and Joe Root as the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world. Ian Chappell and Martin Crowe have ranked Williamson among the top four or five Test cricket batsmen, along with Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli of the current era.
• Williamson was the only New Zealander to be named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade (2011 – 2024).
• In June 2021, he captained New Zealand to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, the first ICC trophy the team won since winning the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. In November 2021, he led New Zealand to the final of the ICC T20 World Cup.
• Williamson made his debut for Northern Districts in 2007 at the age of 17, who he has remained with for the duration of his New Zealand domestic career.

Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 Franchise Career:

• In February 2015, Williamson signed for Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He played for the side in the 2016 season, winning the title, and was retained for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
• He captained the side in 2018, replacing David Warner. Under Williamson’s captaincy, Sunrisers Hyderabad finished runners – up and he was the season’s leading scorer with 735 runs.
• In IPL 2021, Kane took over the captaincy from David Warner in the middle of the season. He was retained by the franchise for the 2022 edition as the captain, but failed to perform, scoring one half-century.
• Ahead of the 2023 season, he was bought by the Gujarat Titans.

International Career:

• Williamson was 17, when he led the New Zealand Under – 19 side in the World Cup in Malaysia in 2008. New Zealand reached the semi – final, where they lost to the eventual champions India.
• One – Day International debut: against India on 10 August 2010
• He scored his maiden ODI century against Bangladesh on 14 October 2010 in Dhaka and hence became the youngest centurion in New Zealand’s cricket history.
• Test cricket debut against India at Ahmedabad on 4 November 2010. In his first innings he scored 131 runs off 299 balls and became the eighth New Zealand player to score a century on Test debut.
• He was also named as captain ahead of the ODI and Twenty20 series against Pakistan as Brendon McCullum was rested.
• Williamson scored 100* off 69 balls against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, which at the time was the second fastest century by a New Zealander in a One – Day International.
• He also established one of the most potent top-order partnership with Ross Taylor, with Williamson himself being the most prolific number – three batsman for the national side since former captain Stephen Fleming.
• In August 2016, during the Test series against Zimbabwe, Williamson became the thirteenth batsman to score a century against all the other Test playing nations. He completed this in the fewest innings, the quickest time from his Test debut and became the youngest player to achieve this feat.
• Williamson set a new record for scoring the most centuries by a New Zealand batsman in Tests, with his 18th, in March 2018 when he scored 102 against England at Auckland.
• Later that year, he scored his 10,000th run in first-class cricket, batting for the English side Yorkshire in the 2018 County Championship.
• On 7 December 2018, Williamson became the first player from New Zealand to cross 900 rating points in the ICC Test batting rankings.
• On 8 December 2018, he scored his 19th Test century in the deciding 3rd game in the Pakistan away series.
• During the 2019 Test series against Bangladesh, Williamson scored 200 not out as New Zealand posted a team total of 715, their highest ever in a Test innings. He also became the fastest New Zealand player to score 6,000 runs in Test cricket.
• In April 2019, he was named the captain of New Zealand’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. During the tournament, he scored an unbeaten 106 to guide New Zealand to victory over South Africa, scoring his 3,000th run as captain of New Zealand in ODIs in the process.
• On 22 June, Williamson scored 148 runs off 154 balls in a 5 – run victory over West Indies, his career best score in ODI cricket.
• One week later, in the match against Australia, Williamson became the third – fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 6,000 runs in ODIs, doing so in his 139th innings.
• At the end of the World Cup, he was awarded the Player of the Tournament award after becoming the highest scoring captain in a single World Cup, making 578 runs in 10 matches. He was named as captain of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by the ICC and ESPNcricinfo.
• In 2015, he started with 69 and 242* against Sri Lanka, with two catches in the field in a man – of – the – match performance.
• On 3 February 2015, he scored the 99th ODI century in New Zealand’s history, against Pakistan; Ross Taylor scored the 100th in the same match.
• He also scored over 700 runs before the 2015 Cricket World Cup in the first two months of the calendar year.
• On 17 June 2015 he became the fifth – fastest batsmen and fastest New Zealander to score 3,000 runs, getting them in just 78 innings.
• On 15 November 2015 Williamson and Taylor became the first pair of away batsmen to each score 2nd innings centuries at WACA Ground in Perth.
• In December 2015, during the second Test against Sri Lanka, Williamson broke the record for the most Test runs scored in a calendar year by a New Zealander, with 1172 runs.
• He also ended 2015 with 2692 runs, the highest total across all forms of international cricket for the year, and third highest total in a single year.
• He was awarded the T20 Player of the Year by NZC for the 2014 – 15 season.