The big Kane Williamson dilemma for new Black Caps coach Rob Walter
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
ANALYSIS: Kane Williamson dislikes the term ‘anchor’.
But the Black Caps superstar still believes there’s plenty of scope for his style of T20 cricket ahead of the World Cup early next year.
Whether that approach fits with the plans of new head coach Rob Walter may be the most intriguing aspect of this summer’s New Zealand XI selections.
Williamson has played 93 T20 internationals since October 2011, making 2575 runs at an excellent average of 33.44, with a Strike Rate (SR) of 123.08.
But with Strike Rates among the elite batters rocketing upwards in recent seasons as the T20 game begins to dominate the cricketing landscape, it’s Williamson’s method of batting which has caused debate in recent seasons over his effectiveness.
Since the 2021 World Cup final - when he made a sensational 85 from 48 balls in the defeat by Australia - Williamson has played just 19 T20Is for the Black Caps, with an average of 36.93 greater than his career mark, but his SR during that period has been just 119.91.
Following his appointment to replace Gary Stead, Walter said he wanted to create the environment for the players to play their best game for their country.
“That will potentially result in a more aggressive type of style here and there, but we know the game is not only about aggression, it's about understanding when to make those plays and when the game requires something different of you.”
Williamson - who isn’t available for the T20 tri-series next month against Zimbabwe and South Africa in Zimbabwe - said in a lengthy Talking Cricket podcast interview recently that he’s long been aware of not being a power-hitter in the shortest format, but still believes he has plenty to offer.
“I still see T20 cricket, out of the three [formats], as probably the most ‘team cricket’ that needs to be played in terms of how you complement each other in the team and how you put together strong performances and repeat that.
“I am not going to be hitting the ball like Chris Gayle, and the sooner you accept that as a player - and certainly that was something I needed to accept - the better … So how do I start looking in the places [to score] that can add to my game and add to generating the strike rate that's required?
“It's how do you become effective and win games for your team? And that's the focus,” Williamson said.
“Because there are times where an innings might not be on the highlight reel but it's of real value to your team. And sometimes it's really fascinating to watch that. Not all teams have that. And sometimes conditions are totally suited to ‘Let's hit every ball for six and see where we land.’ And then there are other times where it has to look a little bit different, depending on conditions.”
The Black Caps recalled openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert for their most recent T20 series at home against Pakistan, and the duo were an explosive success. Allen this week again displayed his big-hitting prowess with a world-record 19 sixes in his whirlwind innings for the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket.
Left-handed top-order batters Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra will also be in the selection mix as the World Cup looms.
During that same time period since the 2022 World Cup, Conway has played 29 innings and made 806 runs at 32.24, with a SR of 120.29 - both significantly less than his career average (38.05) and SR (127.76).
Ravindra hasn’t yet established himself as a Black Caps T20 regular, playing 18 matches and making just 255 runs at 21.25, with a SR of 136.36.
Daryl Mitchell has been a T20I regular, averaging 27.09 (SR 137.75) in 40 innings, while Glenn Phillips has the highest strike-rate - 142.72 - among the regular Black Caps batters in the middle-order while also averaging 32.32.
Williamson wasn’t wanted by IPL franchises for the 2025 tournament, played in the SA20 competition in South Africa at the start of the year, but didn’t play in the Pakistan Super League.
He’s currently representing Middlesex in the Blast T20 competition in England, where in five innings he’s made 121 runs at 30.25, with a SR of 131.52, and struck 10 fours and six sixes.
Walter’s first opportunity to evaluate Williamson in the Black Caps T20 side may come when they host Australia in three games at Bay Oval in October.
England will also play three T20Is when they visit soon after, while the West Indies tour in December will feature five T20Is. New Zealand will then head to India, where there will be five T20Is, before three T20Is against Afghanistan (most likely in India) as their final lead-in to the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka starting in February.
It’s long acknowledged that Williamson is a cautious T20 starter, usually batting at No.3. In his last 18 T20Is, he’s struck a boundary in the first five balls he’s faced just five times.
The 34-year-old aims to build an innings and judge what team total may be a target when batting first.
But his ‘troublesome innings' can be the ones when he is dismissed before he planned to accelerate, leaving NZ behind the game with overs running out.
They include:
– 24 from 27 balls at No.4 versus the West Indies in Kingston in August 2022, when he was on 10 from 14 balls and hit two boundaries in NZ’s 145-7, in a loss by eight wickets.
– 31 from 30 at No.3 versus Pakistan in Christchurch in October 2022, with one boundary in NZ’s NZ 147-8, in a loss by six wickets
– 40 from 40 at No.3 versus England at the 2022 World Cup in Brisbane. He had three boundaries with NZ batting second, losing by 20 runs despite 62 from 36 balls from Glenn Phillips at No.4.
– 46 from 42 at No.3 versus Pakistan in the World Cup semifinal in Sydney. Williamson got to 28 from 28 balls before hitting his first boundary, and made just two fours in a seven-wicket loss.
Williamson, who could claim his team-mates chiefly failed to score runs to assist the team cause in those matches, said: “I have never really liked the term ‘anchor’.”
“And the interesting thing about strike rate is, it ignores all context. If it's just a number on a sheet - strike rate, or even an average or whatever it is, [is it valuable] unless there's context surrounding it? To me as a captain, I'm much more interested in individuals moving a team forward and those are the sort of people that I am fond of. And so there are players that will have these strike rates [that might look under par], but are there moments where they've actually increased that? And I think you could say, well there are times [I have done it]. And Virat [Kohli] is another one who's done that,” Williamson said.
“Personally for me [it's about] how do you read the game and the situation and trust that you are looking to be of service to your team? And the hard part is that there are times and there are surfaces, even in T20 - you don't see it too much in the IPL, but there are times where conditions [are such that] they might be 140-winning totals batting first.
“And so if we are not willing to remove our ego a little bit to do what the team needs, and be of service, which over there could have been a run-a-ball 30,
“If we are just a victim to the number of the strike rate, then we can lose sight of what's really important.”
Walter may ultimately be the judge of that.