The New Zealand cricket team will seen out the rest of their World Test Championship campaign with a new captain, with Kane Williamson handing over the responsibilities to Tim Southee. Team New Zealand announced that Kane Williamson was stepping down on Thursday morning to focus on the Test tour of Pakistan. Tom Latham will deputize for Southee, with Kane Williamson filling the role as a specialist batsman.
Kane Williamson Captaincy
Kane Williamson is statistically the best Test captain in the history of New Zealand cricket, having won 22 out of 40 matches, with eight draws and just 10 losses. He led the team to the inaugural World Test Championship title in 2021 after defeating India in the final at Southampton.
“Captaining the Black Caps in Test cricket has been an incredibly special honour,” Williamson reflected upon his resignation.
“For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game and I’ve enjoyed the challenges of leading the side in the format.”
Williamson will remain captain in the two white-ball formats for New Zealand, with a focus on a Cricket World Cup campaign in 2023 and a T20 World Cup in 2024.
“Captaincy comes with an increased workload on and off the field and at this stage of my career I feel the time is right for this decision,” Williamson said on the decision.
“After discussions with NZC, we felt that continuing to captain the white-ball formats was preferable with two World Cups in the next two years.”
Tim Southee to lead as New Zealand Test Match new Captain Against Pakistan.
New Zealand wasted no time in starting Tim Southee’s reign as captain as the Black Caps named their squad for the upcoming two-Test tour of Pakistan.
The Kiwis announced earlier on Thursday that Southee would be taking over from Kane Williamson as captain in the New Zealand Tests and the pacer’s first assignment as captain would come against Pakistan in the new year.
Southee leads a new-look squad that will be without fellow fast bowlers Trent Boult (unavailable) and Kyle Jamieson (back injury ruled out), including veteran spinner Ish Sodhi and white-ball specialist Glenn Phillips. Huh.
Uncapped pacer Blair Tickner has also been included in the 15-man squad, with Williamson continuing his role as the batsman and providing valuable support to Southee and vice-captain Tom Latham.
New Zealand Test squad for Pakistan: Tim Southee (c), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
