Black Caps v South Africa live updates: Twenty20 Tri-series, game two from Harare
First ball at 11pm
'Very committed': Williamson not done with Black Caps, despite Zimbabwe snub
Despite opting out of this month's tour of Zimbabwe, Kane Williamson still has aspirations to represent his country, new Black Caps coach Rob Walter says.
At 34, and with more yesterdays than tomorrows in his international career, Williamson has opted out of the test and Twenty20 tri-series with South Africa, in order to play franchise cricket in England.
Last year, after New Zealand's exit from the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States, Williamson stood down from the Black Caps' white ball captaincy, and opted out of a central contract.
And while he now holds a casual playing agreement with New Zealand Cricket, that effectively leaves Williamson able to pick and choose when he plays for the Black Caps.
Williamson skipping white ball series is nothing new. The Black Caps have become accustomed to finishing the New Zealand summer with weakened sides, in order to let our best and brightest play in the Indian Premier League.
However, Zimbabwe will be the first time Williamson has opted out of test commitments, easily the format in which he has excelled the most.
But with the Black Caps' test calendar sparse for 2025, Williamson will instead maximise his earnings - with his English stint coming after similar opportunities in South Africa and Pakistan.
As the Black Caps' new head coach, Walter is more than versed in the tug of war between club and country.
But now preparing to take charge of New Zealand for the first time, the 49-year-old is confident Kiwi fans have not seen the last of Williamson.
'Myself and Kane have had a nice conversation, a long conversation,' Walter told the Herald.
'It was really great to catch up with him and discuss cricket. It was great to get his lens on New Zealand cricket and the Black Caps. He's been so influential in their success over the years.
'But then also to discuss what the future might look like. I've said it repeatedly, he's still very committed to the Black Caps, and wants to play international cricket.
'I don't think it'll be too long until we see that.'
While he may not consider it himself, Williamson also has a huge incentive to continue playing for the Black Caps in the longest format.
Following his last test innings, 156 against England in Hamilton in December, Williamson's record reads 9276 runs. Should he score 724 more, he'd become the first New Zealander to cross the fabled mark of 10,000.
And, given the trajectory of the modern game, it's more than likely no other Kiwi will get anywhere near whatever mark Williamson sets.
As for the other forms of the game, though, there is still much to be decided.
Following this year's Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the UAE, Williamson is yet to make any call on whether or not he'll continue playing white ball cricket internationally.
Of his modern contemporaries, only England's Joe Root continues to play both red and white ball cricket. India's Virat Kohli has retired from tests, while Australia's Steve Smith has done the same for ODIs and T20s.
But as the Black Caps build towards the 2026 T20 World Cup, and 2027 ODI World Cup, Walter says any decision over Williamson's white ball future won't come from his coach.
'If that was a decision to be made, it would be his. Quality players stay quality players, and they just work at finding a method to be successful in all formats.
'He's a generational talent, I've got no doubt he'd find a way. He's probably jostling with what that actually looks like for him personally.
'But as I said, quality players find a way.'
Williamson isn't the only Black Cap whose availability Walter will have to wait on, though.
Despite holding a central contract, all-rounder Michael Bracewell is unavailable for this series, in order to take up a $450,000 contract in England's The Hundred competition.
On the flip side of that, though, Devon Conway has made himself available for the tests, while Adam Milne, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert have been selected for the T20s - all of whom hold casual deals.
In the past, Walter has told the Herald that finding the balance between franchise and international cricket is 'the biggest challenge in the game'.
And with the issue not going to abate any time soon, Walter asserts that all parties must work in unison to find the right balance.
'It's case by case,' he continued. 'We've been challenged in how we view things. The game is definitely moving, there are decisions having to be made that weren't part of our thinking five to ten years ago.
'From that point of view, it's [about] trying to be cognisant and understanding the positions players are in.
'But ultimately, the Black Caps must always come first, we must prioritise that. But there is a happy medium.
'We probably don't understand exactly what that looks like just yet. But if the players, New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps are working very hard together to get the balance right, we'll find our way to the other side.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Black Caps v South Africa: Live updates as New Zealand meet Proteas in Twenty20 Tri-series final
All the action as the Black Caps meet South Africa in the final of the Twenty20 Tri-series Seifert and Sodhi shine as Black Caps thrash Zimbabwe Tim Seifert hit a second successive half-century and Ish Sodhi took four wickets as New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 60 runs in their T20 tri-series match in Harare today. New Zealand won all four matches in the round robin phase of the tournament. They will play South Africa in the final at the same venue on Saturday. Seifert hit 75 in a New Zealand total of 190 for six - the highest of the tournament – and Sodhi took a career-best four for 12 as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 130. Seifert and Rachin Ravindra (63) put on 108 for the second wicket to set up New Zealand for the highest total in the six round robin matches. Zimbabwe scored 21 off the first two overs in reply before leg-spinner Sodhi came on to bowl in the third over. He struck with his second ball and took three wickets for five runs in two overs in the powerplay. Sodhi came back later to claim a fourth wicket and become the third player to take 150 wickets in T20 internationals on a list headed by fellow New Zealander Tim Southee with 164. It was his fifth and least expensive four-wicket haul in the format. 'It was nice to contribute in a slightly new role for me. I haven't bowled a lot in powerplays in my career,' said Sodhi after being named player of the match. 'It was nice to put a score on the board batting first,' said New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner who chose to bat on a pitch which has favoured teams batting second. He said the number of players who had 'put their hands up at different times' gave New Zealand a selection headache ahead of the final.


NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Claressa Shields v Lani Daniels: Champion's warning for Kiwi rival ahead of undisputed title fight
'I'm grateful and blessed to be here. I'm grateful to have a voice. I'm not as good as these fullas at talking but I think I'm better at fighting,' Daniels said. 'I'm grateful for the talk practice, because it'll prepare me for Saturday when my hands go to work. I don't have too much to say, I just want to thank everyone for making this fight and event possible.' Daniels goes into the bout with an 11-2-2 record, most recently defending her light heavyweight title last September. She faces a big step up in competition against Shields, with the bout scheduled to play out over 10 two-minute rounds. American Claressa Shields will put her undisputed heavyweight crown on the line against Kiwi Lani Daniels (inset) in Detroit this weekend. Photo / Getty Images, NZME 'I have a very sturdy opponent in front of me in Lani Daniels,' Shields said. 'I want to tell you something; I have not taken you lightly. 'People keep saying they don't know who Lani is and sad to say you guys don't know who half of the girls, who any of the girls fighting [are] because nobody works on building their brand like I do. You can't try to shoot me in the foot over that. 'I've been building my brand so I have 1.4 million followers, I think it's over 2 million worldwide, so to share that platform with Lani is very, very special. 'There's going to be more eyes than have ever been on you on Saturday; in the building, online, on DAZN, it's going to be huge... I cannot let you beat me up. I can't do it. 'There's a lot on the line here... I have prepared for you and your coach very, very hard, and me and my team know what you bring to the table. We respect you and I thank you for coming all the way over here from New Zealand, bringing your family. I look forward to sharing the ring with you.' While Daniels goes into the bout as the underdog, Shields was expecting the Kiwi to present her with a challenge. 'Everyone keeps saying that they're a little scared for you. I'm not. I'm not a little scared for you. 'I know you're going to come and you're going to bring it, but if you can bring out a different beast in me to where I have to rise to a different occasion, then I'll be scared for you,' she said. 'I'm not scared for you yet. I am ready to see how hard you're going to come out there and fight on Saturday, and... if you really want to be champion. If you do that, that's when you're going to see a great fight.' How to watch The bout will headline the card in Detroit on Sunday, which begins at midday NZT on streaming platform DAZN. According to DAZN, Shields and Daniels are estimated to make their walks to the ring about 2pm.


Newsroom
17 hours ago
- Newsroom
Champion Fairweather goes for a medal three-peat
Erika Fairweather will be the first New Zealander to defend a swimming world title at the World Aquatics championships in Singapore starting on Sunday. Should she place on the podium in the 400m freestyle on July 27, she, at just 21, will become the first Aquablack to win a medal at three different World Aquatics long course championships after her efforts in 2023 and 2024. She may have to be on top form even to be just outside the medals as she was at Paris. But it is the podium that Fairweather and her new coach Graham Hill will be aiming for. Just one other female -Lauren Boyle – has stood on any level of a world championship swimming podium for New Zealand. But she was six foot and aged 25 when she got her first medal in 2013. Fairweather was a teenager when she won her first. Now she is off to her sixth world championships. Her first was as a 15-year-old when she won the 200m freestyle at the 2019 World Junior championships. Fairweather switched to Hill in Auckland from Otago earlier this year after her previous coach Lars Humer retired from international coaching. Hill, whose swimmers have won six Olympic medals across four Olympic Games, arrived from South Africa where he was the head coach of the South African swim team. As Swimming New Zealand's head Olympic coach, he wants medals from Aquablacks now. Hill likes winning medals. Australian Ariarne Titmus, unbeaten in the 400m freestyle since 2018, is taking a break from competitive swimming. This may not even make a podium placing easier for Fairweather as competition this year is faster than any Olympic year. Without Titmus at Paris, Fairweather would have been New Zealand's first female Olympic swimming medallist since 1952. It's rare for a Kiwi to come away from a long course world swimming championship with a medal. Since Danyon Loader won three medals at Rome in 1994, only three have. Indeed, it is rare for a Kiwi to compete in an individual final; just four have since 2015. While New Zealand got its first 4x200m women's freestyle relay in an Olympic final at Paris, there will not be a Singapore repeat; New Zealand is not entering one, preferring to focus on Fairweather's 800m event the following day. At last year's worlds, Fairweather won an 800m bronze medal and her relay the day before was placed fourth. Fairweather deserves to rub shoulders with her main rivals, former world record holder Katie Ledecky of the US and the hot favourite and current world record holder, 18-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh, the world's best athlete in a swim cap. At the 2023 world championships, in beating McIntosh, Fairweather shared a podium with Ledecky and Titmus when she became the world's fifth woman to ever break four minutes in the 400m freestyle. In less than a year, things have changed. At Paris last year, Fairweather was competing against the best 400m freestyle swimmers of all time. But they have just got faster as they use this year as a launching pad for the 2028 Olympics. Ledecky currently holds four world records. McIntosh holds six, three of which were set in one competition last month, the first swimmer to do that since Michael Phelps in 2008. Australian Lani Pallister and Tokyo Olympic medallist Li Bingjie from China added their names to that exclusive sub four-minute group, with US teenage swimmer Claire Weinstein just 0.05 seconds shy. Pallister is ranked second this year in the 25m pool. Fairweather looks for her time at the Swimming NZ Champs. Photo: David Rowland/ and Swimming NZ Before Paris, it was Fairweather who was setting lifetime bests when others were not, so she will be looking for a competitive time again this month. Her last lifetime best across her top events (3:59.44 seconds) was at trials for Paris, but her best this season is 4:03.06 seconds. Hill will be hoping Fairweather hits her straps for a big season best to touch the wall ahead of some of the top four seeds in Singapore. It's unlikely she will successfully defend her title unless she improves on her season best by at least eight seconds. But if she clocks a lifetime best, as she has done at each of the past two world championships, she could be on the podium with Ledecky and McIntosh unless Pallister shuts her out. Ledecky was just 0.26 seconds (or about 40 centimetres) ahead of Fairweather at Paris. It's not much. Fairweather has indicated she wants to compete at her third Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, where she will still only be 24. As times get quicker and a couple more like Weinstein join the sub-four club, it may take a sub four-minute swim to make a 400m freestyle Olympic final, with Ledecky at her home Olympics and Titmus back for her final Olympics, to attempt a three-peat.