New Zealand celebrity Kane Williamson has stepped down as captain of the Test facet after greater than six years in cost in a bid to maintain enjoying all three types of the sport.
Fast bowler Tim Southee will take up the management function with Williamson to proceed to guide the Black Caps in ODI and T20 cricket.
Part of cricket’s “big four” batsmen, with Australian Steve Smith, Indian megastar Virat Kohli and England’s Joe Root, Williamson joins his fellow batters in now not being captain.
While Smith misplaced his publish within the wake of the sandpaper scandal, each Root and Kohli abdicated their roles to give attention to batting with, Williamson doing the identical, albeit holding on to the function in white-ball cricket.
“Captaining the Black Caps in Test cricket has been an incredibly special honour,” he mentioned.
“For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game and I’ve enjoyed the challenges of leading the side in the format.
“Captaincy comes with an increased workload on and off the field and at this stage of my career I feel the time is right for this decision.
“We felt that continuing to captain the white-ball formats was preferable with two World Cups in the next two years.
“I’m excited to support Tim as captain and Tom (Latham) as vice-captain. Having played with both of them for most of my career, I’m confident they’ll do a great job.
“Playing for the Black Caps and contributing in all three formats is my No.1 priority and I’m looking forward to the cricket we have ahead.”
Williamson captained the Test workforce on 38 events for 22 wins, eight attracts and 10 losses after changing Brendon McCullum in 2016.
Statistically, he’s probably the most profitable Test captain New Zealand has ever had, taking them to the No.1 ICC Test rating firstly of 2021 and victory within the ICC World Test Championship Final in June final 12 months
Southee mentioned it had been a “surreal few days” and was honoured to be appointed as Test captain.
“I love Test cricket, it’s the ultimate challenge and I’m really excited by the opportunity to lead the team in this format,” he mentioned.
“Kane’s been an outstanding Test captain and I’m looking forward to working with Gary (coach Gary Stead) on how we can build on that.”
