'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
November 2010 marked the start of a significant chapter in international cricket. Kane Williamson started his Test journey with a superb century against India at Ahmedabad. For a 20 year-old New Zealander unfamiliar with the conditions, he tackled Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha with ease. He faced 299 balls in his debut innings, the most by any player in that Test.
Williamson continued to look at ease across conditions. Be it the turners in the subcontinent or the bouncier surfaces in Australia or against the Duke ball in England and West Indies. Just like his boyhood hero Sachin Tendulkar, young Kane looked a batter for all seasons.
But the script hasn’t been the same for Williamson, the overseas batter, in the second phase of his career. There have been spells of brilliance amid long dry runs against tougher opponents. Even in the Lord’s Test last week, the New Zealand skipper managed just 14 runs from two innings.
Williamson is technically adept, has a massive appetite for runs and possesses zen-like concentration abilities. Over the past decade, he has emerged as one of the best batters in the world. Currently the top-ranked Test batter with 895 points in the ICC Batting Rankings, he is four points clear of the incredible Steve Smith.
However, the hallmark of a truly complete modern great is the ability to master all the varied conditions. Where does Williamson fit there?
Glancing at the overall stats, Williamson averages 65.31 at home and 44.55 overseas. These are excellent numbers for any batsman. But the totality doesn’t talk about the dip in recent years.
Kane Williamson’s horrid overseas run
Since 2019, Williamson has scored 1,264 runs from 14 Tests at an average of 66.52. Taking a cut-off of 500 runs, only Marnus Labuschagne is decimal ahead with an average of 66.81 in this period. During the same timeframe, away from home, Williamson has 95 runs from five Tests at 10.55.
Top 10-ranked batters in Tests: Home vs Away record since 2019
New Zealand, in general, doesn’t present the best batting conditions. But no cricketer in the sport’s history has championed the Kiwi conditions as well as Williamson. And over the past two-and-a-half-year period, Williamson’s astronomical numbers at home have helped the side gain key points to make it to the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final and seen him take giant strides in the Test Rankings.
During the same period, he hasn’t even crossed 35 in the nine innings he has batted in the five overseas Tests. And this isn’t just about the last five overseas Tests. Williamson has struggled with consistency away from home since the tour of India in 2016-17.
Some of the top batters since September 2016
Williamson has been the least effective overseas batsman among the fab four. While Steve Smith has shown remarkable consistency at home and away, Joe Root has been a better batter overseas, and Williamson’s average alarmingly drops below 50% when playing away.
The ongoing England-New Zealand series is Williamson’s fifth away series in this timeframe. Except for the series against Pakistan in the UAE, where he amassed 386 runs at 77.2, he has been a pale shadow of his reputation.
When you look at the overall careers of the fab four, Smith averages over 40 in all countries except Bangladesh. Undoubtedly an all-time Test great, Smith has adapted to conditions better than anyone else.
Virat Kohli averages over 35 in every country where he has played more than one Test and has at least one hundred. Root averages above 50 in England, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, UAE and the West Indies. His averages in Australia and New Zealand read 38 and 39.1, respectively. The numbers reflect tremendous consistency.
Williamson's average drops in the 20s when he plays in England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. After the debut ton against India, he has averaged only 27.5 in the 12 innings he has played there since.
But was that always the case?
Kane Williamson’s productive overseas phase
Until New Zealand’s India tour in 2016, Kane Williamson had played 52 Tests in his career. Only 19 of those Tests had come on home soil. New Zealand played more Tests overseas, and except for South Africa, Williamson had struck at least one hundred in every nation he had played. He averaged less than 35 only in England and South Africa.
Some of the best batters since Kane Williamson’s debut until September 2016
Williamson was already among the best batters in the world. He was scoring runs in most conditions, though the numbers were bolstered due to his heavy scoring against weaker opposition.
With no apparent weakness in this batting, there could be no reason why there’s a slump in his overseas form.
Too many two-Test series for New Zealand
What probably changed was the number of Tests New Zealand played since. In the first six years of Williamson’s career, New Zealand played 58 Tests (22 home Tests and 36 away Tests). During this time, they had played more Tests than South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan, and just one less than Sri Lanka.
New Zealand had played more overseas Tests (36) than India (35), Australia (34), Sri Lanka (29), West Indies (29), South Africa (25) and Bangladesh (7).
Since 2017, i.e. in the last four-and-half years, New Zealand have played only 30 Tests (21 home Tests and 9 away Tests) – the least among the top eight Test teams. And when we talk about overseas Tests, they have played just nine matches, which is even lesser than Bangladesh’s count of 16.
It’s strange that in an 11-year-long career, Williamson has played just five Tests in England and four each in South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Scheduling could be among the reasons for Williamson’s inconsistent run overseas. New Zealand play far too many two-Test series. The last time New Zealand played an overseas series involving more than three Tests was in England during their 1999 tour. And before that, it was their tour of the West Indies in 1984-85.
India are the last team to play a series involving more than three Tests in New Zealand. The four-Test series was played in the 1967-68 season.
Acclimatization could be an issue in such short series, especially playing away from home. The tour is over before you get used to the conditions, and the next opportunity is five or six years away. As a high-ranked Test side, New Zealand authorities need to seriously introspect on this to ensure they remain a strong unit in this format.
Countdown to the World Test Championship final
A left elbow injury has ruled Williamson out of the second Test against England. New Zealand coach Gary Stead confirmed that the decision had been made with the next week’s ICC WTC final in mind.
On June 18, Williamson will play in the biggest Test of his career. One of the most beloved cricketers on the planet, the Kiwi skipper will hope to change this dismal trend of poor form overseas. At 30, it might just be his entry into the most prolific phase as he eyes his first-ever ICC silverware and an extended run as the No.1 Test batsman.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
