Kane Williamson: The Greatest New Zealand Player of All Time

New Zealand has produced some of the finest cricketers and captains ever to play the game. From Sir Richard Hadlee to Stephen Fleming we have wintessed true legends of the game. But Kane Williamson's performance as a batsman, his leadership quality, and his behaviour off and on the field makes him, in our humble opinion, the Greatest New Zealand Player of All Time.

A classic batsman and a great captain, New Zealand's Kane Williamson is undoubtedly one of the best cricketers in the world.

But, where and how did his journey of cricket begin? What are his key achievements? What all records set him a class apart? Read on to explore his marvellous cricket journey.

Kane Williamson: A small Introduction

Born on 8 August 1990 in Tauranga, New Zealand, Kane Stuart Williamson loves travelling, listening to music, playing the guitar, and cooking. Ed Sheeran is his favourite singer, he's a non-smoker and has a twin brother Logan, and three older sisters.
 

Early Days in Cricket

Kane Williamson is a right-handed batsman and occasional off-spin bowler. Captaining the national team for the 2008 Under-19 World Cup campaign, his remarkable performance with the bat (621 runs, average 77.62) in 2009-10 earned him a berth in the national team.

International Cricket: Initial Phase

Williamson made his ODI debut against India on 10 August 2010. A few months later, upon scoring a maiden ODI century against

Bangladesh in October 2010, he became the youngest centurion in New Zealand cricket history. On 4 November 2010, Williamson made his Test debut against India and scored 131 runs to become the eighth New Zealand player to score a century on Test debut.

His unbeaten century in the second innings of the Wellington Test In 2012 against South Africa not only saved the side from a humiliating defeat but also established Williamson as one of the best in the game. The century was only the 15th by a New Zealand batsman against South Africa and the first since 2006.

After the retirement of Brendon McCullum in 2016, Williamson was appointed as the captain of the New Zealand cricket team for all formats. Earlier, he was the vice-captain in the 2015 ICC World Cup.

International Cricket: Career Statistics

Though, Williamson believes his personal statistics don't matter as much as his contribution to the team, here are his vital statistics for his fans and cricket lovers.

Key Achievements: Why is he the greatest New Zealand cricketer?

Kane Williamson, as a batsman has achieved numerous milestones and broke various records. At 30, still at half-way through his career, he is already way ahead of all other New Zealand cricketers. Let's check out some of his key achievements.

The fastest New Zealand cricketer to score 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 runs in both Tests and One Day International matches.

In 2016 August, he became the youngest player to score a Test century against all other Test-playing nations.

Kane Williamson had a terrific 2015, scoring a record 2692 runs at an average of 65.65 from all international matches for New Zealand. He also smashed eight centuries and 14 half-centuries that year.

• The first New Zealand cricketer to score 2000 or more runs from all international matches in a calendar year (2015).
• His 5 Test centuries in 2015 is the most by any New Zealand cricketer in a calendar year.
• The first New Zealand player to have a batting average above 50 - his current batting average is 52.55 from 81 Tests and 141 innings.
• The very fact that he is a great batsman overshadows his captaincy skills. He is brilliant as a skipper too, who led his side to the 2019 ICC World Cup final.
• On 7 December 2018, Williamson became the first New Zealand cricketer to cross 900 rating points in the ICC Test batting rankings.
• Recently he scored 251 runs in the first Test at Hamilton against West Indies, which is his third double-century in Tests.
• Fifth top run scorer in ODIs with 6173 runs.
• His 22 Test centuries is the highest by any New Zealand cricketer so far.

Williamson at the 2019 World Cup

In ICC World Cup 2019, he scored 578 runs, which is the most by any captain at any World Cup events, breaking Mahela Jayawardene's record of 548 runs. On the course to the final, he also scored two match-winning centuries against South Africa and West Indies.

One cannot forget his smiling face after the ICC 2019 World Cup Final defeat against England. When the super-over was tied, ICC's boundary-count rules made England the eventual World Champions. It was an inexplicable rule, and a very harsh defeat to say the least. Few players could ingest such harsh defeats so gracefully. His post-match smiling-face image is one of the most loved pictures of the decade.

We have seen the greatness of Sir Richard Hadlee, Chris Cairns, Martin Crowe, Stephen Fleming, Brandon McCullum, but Williamson has achieved a lot more already, and he has good 4-5 years of cricketing career left. As a skipper, he couldn't bring the World Cup home in 2019, but no one had an answer to what more he could do.

Though no one is perfect in the world of cricket, Williamson is as perfect as a cricketer can get, and surely the best the world has ever witnessed from the lands of New Zealand.