 Williamson in 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Kane Stuart Williamson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1990-08-08)8 August 1990 (age 35) Tauranga, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armoff-break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Top-order batter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 248) | 4 November 2010 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 14 December 2024 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 161) | 10 August 2010 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 29 October 2025 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 49) | 16 October 2011 v Zimbabwe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 17 June 2024 v Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007/08–present | Northern Districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Gloucestershire County Cricket Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | Yorkshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2022 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Barbados Tridents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023-2024 | Gujarat Titans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Durban's Super Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Karachi Kings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Middlesex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | London Spirit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,2 August 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kane Stuart Williamson (born 8 August 1990)[1] is aNew Zealand international cricketer and a formercaptain of theNew Zealand national team. On 27 February 2023, Williamson became the all-time leading run-scorer for New Zealand inTest cricket.[2] A right-handed batsman and an occasionaloff spin bowler, he is widely regarded as one of the world's best contemporary batsman and one of the greatest New Zealand captains and batsman of all time. He captainedNew Zealand to victory in the2021 ICC World Test Championship final and to the finals of the2019 Cricket World Cup and2021 T20 World Cup. He was also a part of the New Zealand squad to finish asrunners-up at the2015 Cricket World Cup and the2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Williamson made hisfirst-class cricket debut while still a schoolboy atTauranga Boys' College, in December 2007.[3] He made his U-19 debut against the touringIndian U-19 team the same year and was named captain of theNew Zealand U-19 team for the2008 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He made his international debut in 2010. Williamson has represented New Zealand at the2011,2015,2019 and2023 editions of theCricket World Cup and2012,2014,2016,2021,2022 and2024 editions of theICC World Twenty20. He made his full-time captaincy debut for New Zealand in the 2016ICC World Twenty20 inIndia. He captained New Zealand at the2019 Cricket World Cup, leading the team to thefinal and winning thePlayer of the Tournament award in the process. On 31 December 2020, he reached a Test batting rating of 890, surpassingSteve Smith andJoe Root as the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world.[4][5] He was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for Test cricketer of the decade.Ian Chappell andMartin Crowe have ranked Williamson among the top four Test cricket batsmen, along withJoe Root,Steve Smith,Virat Kohli of the current era.[6][7][8]
Williamson was the only New Zealander to be named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade (2011–2020).[9] He won ICC Spirit of Cricket award in 2018. The late former New Zealand cricketer,Martin Crowe, noted that, "we're seeing the dawn of probably our greatest ever batsman" in Williamson.[10] In June 2021, he captained New Zealand to win the inauguralICC World Test Championship, the first ICC trophy the team won since winning the2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. In November 2021, he led New Zealand to thefinal of theICC T20 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of his generation.[11]
Williamson was born on 8 August 1990 inTauranga, in theBay of Plenty region on theNorth Island of New Zealand.[12] 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 representativebasketball 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 accomplishedvolleyball players, and Anna and Sophie were in New Zealand age group teams. Williamson's grandmotherJoan Williamson-Orr served as mayor ofTaupō. His first cousinDane Cleaver has also played international cricket for New Zealand.[13]
Williamson played senior representative cricket at the age of 14 and first-class cricket at 16. He attendedTauranga 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."[14][15] He reportedly scored 40 centuries before he left school.[16]
Williamson made his debut forNorthern Districts in 2007 at the age of 17, who he has remained with for the duration of his New Zealand domestic career.[17][18]He scored his first T20 hundred, on 19 September 2014, making 101* in 49 balls to guideNorthern Districts to a comfortable win againstCape Cobras inChampions League Twenty20 2014.[19]
Williamson signed forGloucestershire to play in the2011 English county season.[20] On 14 August 2013, he signed forYorkshire for the rest of the season and subsequently signed to return for the2014 season, when his side won the County Championship.[21][22] He signed to return the latter part of the2015 season, but when incumbent overseas playerAaron Finch was not selected for the Australia ODI squad, Yorkshire ultimately chose to extend Finch's deal in place of Williamson.[23][24] He subsequently signed a deal for part of the2016 season, and also returned for a part of the2018 season.[25]
In 2025,Middlesex announced that they would be signing him for the upcoming 2025 season, as well as playing for theLondon Spirit.[26]
In February 2015, a Williamson signed forIndian Premier League sideSunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He played for the side in the2016 season, winning the title, and was retained for the2017 and2018 seasons. He captained the side in 2018, replacingDavid Warner.[27][28] Under Williamson's captaincy,Sunrisers Hyderabad finished runners-up and he was the season's leading scorer with 735 runs.[29] In IPL 2021, Kane took over the captaincy fromDavid Warner in the middle of the season.[30] He was retained by the franchise for the2022 edition as the captain, but failed to perform, scoring one half-century.[31][32] Ahead of the2023 season, he was bought by theGujarat Titans, but was injured in the first match of the season.[33] He would go on to play for the Titans for the2024 season before being released and would remain unsold for the2025 season.[34]
In the2021 The Hundred season, Williamson was drafted forBirmingham Phoenix but withdrew because of an ongoing elbow injury.
InThe Hundred 2025, Williamson became the first male to become a direct signing forLondon Spirit. He becomes the captain of the Spirit as well as playing for the host countyMiddlesex. He played all 8 games for Spirit, scoring 204 runs as the team won just 3 games, failing to qualify for the playoffs.[35]
In 2011 and 2012, Williamson played forGloucestershire in theFriends Life T20. Across 17 matches, he scored 324 runs for the team.
Furthermore, he has played in theNatWest T20 Blast in2014 and2016 representingYorkshire and scoring 302 runs across 12 matches with a strike rate of 118.89.
Williamson has participated in theVitality Blast in2018 and2025, representing Yorkshire andMiddlesex respectively. As of August 2025, he has made 24 appearances in the tournament and has scored 676 runs.[36]
Williamson also played in theCaribbean Premier League in 2017 for theBarbados Tridents. He scored 172 runs in his season with the club and failed to hit any half-centuries or centuries.
Across January and February of 2025, Williamson participated in thethird season of the SA20, playing forDurban's Super Giants. He would go on to score 233 in his 8 games inSouth Africa at an average of 46.60 and strike rate of 118.87.[37]
Williamson was 17, when he led the New Zealand Under-19 side in the World Cup inMalaysia in 2008. New Zealand reached the semi-final, where they lost to the eventual champions India. On 24 March 2010, Williamson was named in the New Zealand Test squad for the second Test against Australia,[38] but ultimately he did not play in the match.[39]
Williamson made hisOne-Day International debut againstIndia on 10 August 2010. He was dismissed for a 9th ballduck. In his second match, he was bowled byAngelo Mathews for a second ball duck. He scored his maiden ODIcentury againstBangladesh on 14 October 2010 inDhaka and hence became the youngest centurion in New Zealand's cricket history. Due to his performance on theBangladesh tour where New Zealand suffered a 4–0 whitewash, Williamson was selected in the New Zealand Test squad for thetour of India that followed.[40]
Williamson made hisTest cricket debut againstIndia atAhmedabad on 4 November 2010. In his first innings he scored 131 runs off 299 balls and became the eighthNew Zealand player to score a century on Test debut.[41][42]
Williamson scored 161* against West Indies in June 2014, his second century of the series and helped secure a rare away Test series victory for his side. He finished as the leading overall run scorer in the series with 413 runs, and was denied a double century only by rain,[43] which encouraged skipperBrendon McCullum to declare in the interest of obtaining a result in the match. He was also reported for a suspect bowling action in April 2014, but was cleared in December 2014.[44] He was also named as captain ahead of the ODI and Twenty20 series againstPakistan in December 2014 as McCullum was rested.[45]
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Williamson scored 100* off 69 ballsagainst Zimbabwe atBulawayo, which at the time was the second fastest century by a New Zealander in aOne-Day International.[46] He also established one of the most potenttop-order partnership withRoss Taylor, with Williamson himself being the most prolific number-three batsman for the national side since former captainStephen Fleming. As a fielder, his position is predominantly at gully.[43]
In 2015, he started with 69 and 242* againstSri Lanka, with two catches in the field in a man-of-the-match performance.[47] On 3 February 2015, he scored the 99th ODI century in the New Zealand's history, againstPakistan;Ross Taylor scored the 100th in the same match. He also scored over 700 runs before the2015 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 inPerth.[citation needed]
In December 2015, during thesecond 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.[48] 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.[49]
He was awarded the T20 Player of the Year by NZC for the 2014–15 season.[50]
In March 2016, Williamson assumed the position of captain of New Zealand across all forms of cricket after the retirement ofBrendon McCullum, beginning with the World T20I cup in India. He was named as captain of the 'Team of the Tournament' by ESPNcricinfo and Cricbuzz.[51][52] He also picked up NZ player of the year, Test player of the year and the Redpath Cup for top batsman in first class cricket for the second year in a row.[53][54]
In August 2016, during theTest 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,[needs update] the quickest time from his Test debut and became the youngest player to achieve this feat.[55]
Williamson set a new record for scoring the mostcenturies by a New Zealand batsman in Tests, with his 18th, in March 2018 when he score 102 againstEngland at Auckland.[56] Later that year, he scored his 10,000th run in first-class cricket, batting for the English sideYorkshire in the2018 County Championship.[57] On 8 December 2018, he scored his 19th Test century in the deciding 3rd game in the Pakistan away series. On 7 December 2018, Williamson became the first player from New Zealand to cross 900 rating points in the ICC Test batting rankings.[58] During the2019 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.[59][60]
In April 2019, he was named the captain ofNew Zealand's squad for the2019 Cricket World Cup.[61][62] During the tournament, he scored an unbeaten 106 to guide New Zealand to victory overSouth Africa,[63] scoring his 3,000th run as captain of New Zealand in ODIs in the process.[64] On 22 June, Williamson scored 148 runs off 154 balls in a 5-run victory overWest Indies, his career best score in ODI cricket.[65] One week later, in the match againstAustralia, Williamson became the third-fastest batsman, in terms of innings, to score 6,000 runs in ODIs, doing so in his 139th innings.[66] 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.[67] He was named as captain of the 'Team of the Tournament' by the ICC and ESPNcricinfo.[68][69][70][71]
In November 2020, Williamson was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for Test cricketer of the decade.[72][73] On 4 December, Williamson scored 251 runs, his highest test score, in the first innings of thefirst Test against West Indies and helped New Zealand win the match by an innings and 134 runs.[74][75]
In June 2021, he led New Zealand to victory in the inauguralICC World Test Championship, beating India in the final by eight wickets. In August 2021, Williamson was named as the captain of New Zealand's squad for the2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[76] Under his captaincy, New Zealand reached their third consecutive ICC event final across all formats after beating England in thesemi-final of the T20 World Cup.[77] In thefinal, Williamson scored a brilliant knock of 85 off 48 balls but ended up on the losing side after facing defeat to Australia by 8 wickets.[78] He was New Zealand's top scorer in the tournament with 216 runs at an average of 43.20.[79]
In December 2022, Williamson stepped down as New Zealand's Test captain, ahead of theirtour to Pakistan.[80][81] In the first Test, he scored hisfifth double century in Tests,[82] and became the first New Zealand batter to hit five double centuries in Test cricket.[83][84] He also became the first New Zealand batter to achieve the milestone of 25 centuries in Test cricket.[85]
On 28 February 2023, Williamson surpassedRoss Taylor's tally of 7,683 runs to become New Zealand's highest run scorer in Test cricket, on the same day he also scored his 26th Test century against England in the second Test of the two match Test series.[86]
On 18 March 2023, Williamson scored his 28th century in test cricket. He went on to turn the innings into his 6th test match double century.
In May 2024, he was named captain of New Zealand’s squad for the2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.[87] In June 2024, he stepped down from white-ball captaincy following New Zealand's group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup.[88]
On 10 February 2025, Williamson scored his 14th ODI century, his first since 22 June 2019, a span of 2060 days.[89] Williamson would go on to score 200 runs in the2025 Champions Trophy, making a contribution to New Zealand's run to thefinal where they would lose to India.[90][91]
On 2 November 2025, he announced his retirement from T20I cricket to focus on Test cricket.[92][93]
As of March 2025, Williamson has scored 33 Test and 15 ODI centuries. His highest score in Test is 251 and 148 in ODIs. He is yet to score a century inT20Is, his highest in that format being 95.[94]
He bowls and bats right handed but writes left handed.[95] Williamson has three children, two daughters and a son with wife Sarah Raheem whom he first met in 2015.[96] During theNew Zealand vs Pakistan 2014 ODI series, Williamson donated his entire match fee for all five ODIs to the victims of the2014 Peshawar school massacre.[97][98]
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| Preceded by | New Zealand's Sportsman of the Year 2015 2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | ICC Cricket World Cup Player of the Series 2019 | Incumbent |
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