Williamson to lead New Zealand in Bangladesh T20 series
Will play T20s after more than a year
Monday, 18 December 2023
WELLINGTON, Dec 17 (Agencies): Captain Kane Williamson will make his return to international Twenty20 cricket in the three-match home series against Bangladesh, New Zealand Cricket said Sunday.
Williamson has not played 20-overs cricket for more than a year after missing the T20 series against England in September while recovering from a long-term knee injury.
The 33-year-old world-class batter recovered to help New Zealand reach the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup in India last month, followed by the drawn Test series in Bangladesh.
Williamson joins Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips, who will contest the three-match T20 series after being rested for the current ODI games with Bangladesh.
The injured players include Lockie Ferguson (Achilles), Matt Henry (hamstring), Henry Shipley (back) and all-rounder Michael Bracewell (Achilles).
Opener Devon Conway is being rested for both the ODI and Twenty20 series, because of a "heavy workload in 2023", according to a New Zealand Cricket statement.
New Zealand have home Tests against South Africa and Australia in early 2024.
Coach Gary Stead said the T20 series, starting in Napier on December 27, represents the start of New Zealand's preparation for the World Cup next June in the West Indies and United States.
"It's great to be able to finish off a busy year that started on the road by having the group together in New Zealand," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. "We've played T20 cricket in a wide variety of conditions this year and it's been great to see a broad range of players making contributions.
"Tim Seifert, as an example, returned to the side in a specific role at the top of the order and made significant contributions in each series he was part of. With a World Cup in the middle of next year, we're well into our planning in terms of both the tournament and the type of squad we might need in the conditions.
"While we're advanced in our planning, as we saw with the one-day World Cup squad this year with the likes of Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra - there is certainly still time for players to come into that mix."
New Zealand T20 squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee