No. Give him a rest: T20 is not a high priority
For starters, this isn’t about ‘dropping’ or ‘axing’ New Zealand’s best cricketer. Those flippant words miss the point about an argument that has plenty of merit: restricting Kane Williamson to tests and one-day internationals and cajoling him towards the beach at Mount Maunganui when the Black Caps play Twenty20 cricket.
It’s not a new debate. This time last year Williamson was reliably said to be struggling with the demands of leading his country in all three formats. Not so much on the field, but the all-consuming responsibilities off it, on top of the many hours he toils to remain one of the world’s best test batsmen.
Tellingly, Williamson and India’s Virat Kohli are the only current international skippers across all formats. The pressure on Kohli must be immense and you wonder how long he can maintain it. Australia’s Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root are nowhere to be seen in this tri-series, being rested with bigger tasks ahead.
Maintaining the country’s most valuable cricketing asset in tests and ODIs at the peak of his powers – with a World Cup less than 18 months away – must be top priority. Williamson could be playing Ford Trophy now without a care in the world, fine-tuning his game for the five ODIs and two tests against England, before he jets to the Indian Premier League and then Yorkshire.
Instead he was tasked with extricating New Zealand from trouble on a tricky Sydney pitch against the fearsome Billy Stanlake, recording his third successive single-figure score, then having to explain why it all went so wrong for his team.
This tri-series is interesting and has context with New Zealand pitted against old enemies England and Australia. But T20 international cricket is not that important outside the world tournament which next happens in 2020 in Australia. It’s an entertainment product, a money-maker for home boards.
On current form Williamson isn’t a must-include, and a T20 team with Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Williamson in the top-five isn’t quite right. Australia’s top-four contained the four most destructive T20 batsmen in the country.
If three into two doesn’t go, as coach Mike Hesson noted when saying Williamson would ideally be opening, then either he or Guptill should drop out. The sky won’t fall in if New Zealand don’t make the final of this tri-series, and didn’t when they lost to Pakistan, so what’s the harm in giving Williamson a break and throwing Tim Southee the T20 reins again? Better that than Williamson sitting out the Christmas ODIs when all New Zealand’s focus is on building to next year’s World Cup.
If the Tom Bruce or Glenn Phillips selections had come off, the argument would be even stronger. Now Tim Seifert and Mark Chapman get their chances, rightly rewarded for explosive domestic T20 form.
If one of them puts a compelling case to bat three in T20 it might be the clincher for a discussion with Williamson about handing over the T20 reins. It’s no slight on him, and would freshen him up for the much more important cricketing tasks at hand.