Black Caps captain Kane Williamson set to return in warm-up matches

All signs point to Kane Williamson being available for the Black Caps’ World Cup opener against England next week.

The white-ball skipper plans to give his surgically repaired knee the ultimate test before then, telling media in Christchurch on Wednesday morning he intended to be involved in the team’s warm-up games.

Whether the 33-year-old plays in both matches isn’t yet clear, but Williamson said he was eager to take the final step in his rehab from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, with games against Pakistan in Hyderabad on Friday and South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday looming.

“There is a strong desire to be involved as much as I can,” Williamson said shortly before jetting to India for the ODI World Cup.

“Basically, it’s just wanting to progress what I am doing now – the running, the fielding, time in the middle with the bat.”

The South Africa match is just four days before the Black Caps open the tournament with a rematch of the 2019 final, against England in Ahmedabad, and about seven months since he went under the knife.

Just how involved he will be in the two warm-up matches won’t be decided until the Black Caps are on the ground in India, with Williamson admitting he wasn’t entirely free of discomfort.

“Not a huge amount. Although the load is going to keep increasing, so there is a little bit of an unknown. But it has felt pretty good really in the last few weeks.

“Although it’s going well, you still have days that vary a little bit. So it’s working through those warm-up games to get as much out of it as I can, and as a team, without bothering it too much.”

Having busted his knee playing for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL in April, Williamson has been back batting in the nets for almost two months.

That’s all well in good – even his troublesome elbow is all but forgotten, he said – but he knows the real test will be getting through a match.

“Not so much the sprinting. More the slowing actually,” Williamson said of the most difficult aspect of his recovery.

“From sprinting, the braking, a little bit of a change of direction. It’s all been part of the plan, and introducing it towards the end of recovery.”

So, would how he fares in the warm-up matches impact where one of the Black Caps’ sharpest fielders places himself in the field?

“We will definitely consider some of that, where I field. It’s usually at mid-off, which will probably remain the case,” he said.

“Probably slightly better suited to it than square of the wicket. Potentially some slip, but I won’t be standing there if we don’t require one.”

One of the main group of New Zealand-based players departing for India on Wednesday, Williamson was in a jovial mood before boarding the team’s flight.

As was coach Gary Stead, who was clearly pleased to have both Williamson and Southee (thumb) on track to be available for the opener, two leaders he said brought experience and a sense of calm to the unit.

It also helped he’d awoken to see Black Caps opener Will Young hit 70 in New Zealand’s seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in Mirpur, a result which ensured they bounced back from a 3-1 series defeat to England with a 2-0 sweep.

“I think the positive thing for this New Zealand team is we’ve shown in the last month or so that we can beat England, which is one of the best teams in the world.

“You don’t have to beat them every day, you just have to beat them on certain days.”

Black Caps – Cricket World Cup 2023

Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham (vc), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchel Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young

Fixtures [NZ time]

October 5, 9.30pm: v England; Ahmedabad

October 9, 9.30pm: v Netherlands; Hyderabad

October 13, 9.30pm: v Bangladesh; Chennai

October 18, 9.30pm: v Afghanistan; Chennai

October 22, 9.30pm: v India; Dharamsala

October 28, 6pm: v Australia; Dharamsala

November 1, 9.30pm: v South Africa; Pune

November 4, 6pm: v Pakistan; Bengaluru

November 9, 9.30pm: v Sri Lanka; Bengaluru