Kane Williamson said the intention to play in next year’s SA20 was a pivotal reason behind turning down an NZ central contract, but reinstated that his passions still lie in representing his country at the biggest stage.
The SA20 is scheduled between January 9 and February 8, 2025, which clashes with the dates of the Super Smash in New Zealand.
As per NZ rules, a player has to play in Super Smash if they are not on an international assignment to be eligible for a central contract.
“I want to play as long as I can. There’s a number of great competitions during that time, but SA20 looks really exciting. Unfortunately, it meant turning down a central contract,” Williamson told reporters.
The 33-year-old batter has been a pivotal figure in New Zealand cricket for over a decade, playing an instrumental role for his side through the years, helping them reach the semi-finals in seven out of the ten World Cups he has played for the Kiwis across both formats since 2011.
The batter reemphasized that his refusal to accept a central contract was no sign of him losing interest to compete in international cricket for New Zealand though.
“My priority still is, absolutely, playing for New Zealand. Think I might miss maybe a handful of games over a three-week period,” he added.
“It’s simply the contract, the rules that currently exist meant I wasn’t able to have one but in terms of playing for New Zealand I’m not missing almost any cricket really, so that was important to me.”
Williamson will miss the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka in January next year. But he will be available for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in September, besides the WTC matches against India and Sri Lanka away and the three-match series against England at home.
Following an unsuccessful campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024, where NZ crashed out in the group stages, Williamson relinquished captaincy in both the T20I and ODI formats. But, the talisman batter stated his eagerness in witnessing how the leadership role of New Zealand evolves in white ball formats.
“I’ve really, really enjoyed my time captaining and it’s been a privilege and an honour to do that for a number of years.
“I’m excited with what’s next for the team in terms of the leadership as well and looking forward to being part of that,” he added.
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