Kane Williamson made an ordinary start to his international career as he made a nine ball duck against India in a one day international at Dambulla in August 2010. All that appears to be a mere footnote in history now as Williamson has established himself as an integral part of the New Zealand team in all formats of the game.

He has so far played 34 Test matches where he has scored 2377 runs, including an impressive tally of 7 centuries and 13 fifties. His contribution in ODIs are equally impressive where he has represented New Zealand on 54 occasions scoring 1699 runs with 3 centuries and 11 fifties to his name. His nascent T20I career is also showing signs of promise where he has played 19 games and scored 408 runs. Whilst his main strength is his batting, Williamson has also made contributions with his off-break bowling, collecting 24 Test, 23 ODI and 3 T20I wickets.

Despite his success as a rising star in the New Zealand team, 24 year old Williamson has recently made headlines for the wrong reasons as he was reported and subsequently banned for having a suspect bowling action. He is currently playing county cricket for Yorkshire and in an exclusive interview with PakPassion.net, the young batsman spoke about his recent performances in the West Indies, his views on captaincy for the national team, New Zealand's impressive bowling resources, answered questions about his bowling action, as well as looking forward to the series against Pakistan in the UAE as well as the 2015 World Cup.

By Saj Sadiq (31st August, 2014)

PakPassion.net: An excellent Test series win in the Caribbean recently in which you played a key role?

Kane Williamson: Yes it was a great step for our team. We’d played a lot of cricket at home and gained some momentum at home so it was nice for what is a young side to go away and win in foreign conditions.


PakPassion.net: And a personal milestone reached by you during that series with your highest Test score of 161 not out?

Kane Williamson: Yes it was really pleasing, it’s always nice to get big scores. I feel we are playing a very good brand of cricket which is enjoyable to be a part of and you just want to be contributing towards it, whether that’s with a small score or a big score such as my 161 not out.


PakPassion.net: New Zealand seem to also be playing an exciting brand of cricket with a group of players who are maturing as a unit?

Kane Williamson: Yes that’s true, we are a young side and that’s what was so pleasing about the win in the Caribbean as a lot of the guys hadn’t played there before and conditions were so different to back home. To adapt as quickly as we did was a very good step for us.


PakPassion.net: One of those youngsters is Trent Boult who just seems to be getting better with each match that he plays?

Kane Williamson: Trent is an outstanding bowler who has performed well in all conditions. He’s a major asset for our team along with Tim Southee who has with Trent Boult formed an outstanding new ball attack. In addition Neil Wagner has provided excellent back-up to Southee and Boult and he has bowled a lot of overs too.


PakPassion.net: You recently captained New Zealand in a T20 international. That must be a huge boost for your confidence that you are being earmarked as a future captain of your country?

Kane Williamson: There’s a little bit of chat from certain quarters that I may be a future captain. From my perspective that would be great but I don’t have it on my radar. At the moment it’s all about playing and trying to win games of cricket rather than thinking about captaincy. If things head into that direction then that’s fine but if they don’t then that’s not a problem for me at all.


PakPassion.net: New Zealand could be playing a Day/Night Test match against Australia next year. What are your thoughts on day/night Test cricket?

Kane Williamson: Yes I’ve heard about the idea. I think it’s a pretty odd idea.


PakPassion.net: Given what’s happened with your bowling action recently, are you confident that you will be permitted to bowl again?

Kane Williamson: Yes I’m confident that my action will be cleared. I’ve been putting in a lot of work regarding my bowling action and that will continue. I want to be back bowling but I appreciate that it could be a slow process. Having said that, my role with the ball for New Zealand has never been a big one and I’m not some amazing spinner, rather a part-time bowler whose there to perform a role which I want to perform as soon as possible.


PakPassion.net: You face Pakistan and possibly Saeed Ajmal later this year in the UAE. Any specific plans for Ajmal?

Kane Williamson: He’s a fantastic bowler and will be a handful. We’ll need to come up with some plans for him no doubt about that and I’m sure closer to the time we’ll work on some specific plans for him.


PakPassion.net: Do you think New Zealand can deal with the tough conditions that they will encounter in UAE against Pakistan?

Kane Williamson: As a team we need to grow and series such as the one against Pakistan in UAE promises to be a tough one. We’ll have some good days and tough days as we grow as a team. Sometimes we’ll learn some harsh lessons but the performance in the Caribbean this year gives us heart and we can feel really positive about the way we adapted to the conditions in the West Indies and hopefully we can adapt the same way in UAE. It’s an exciting challenge to face a very strong Pakistan side in UAE.


PakPassion.net: The World Cup next year in New Zealand and Australia promises to be an exciting and open tournament. Do you think New Zealand can be ranked amongst the favourites especially with the tournament being played in home conditions?

Kane Williamson: We’ve got a lot of one day cricket coming up so that should be good preparation. I believe we have the players to win the World Cup and our home form in the fifty over format has been fantastic so we fancy our chances. Having said that one day cricket is such that a match can change very quickly so the tournament is wide open with a number of teams who could win it.

Discuss!