Nathan Lyon. Joe Root. Virat Kohli. David Warner. Ben Stokes. R Ashwin. Jonny Bairstow.
These is a list of players who will have played 100 Tests despite debuting after Kane Williamson did in November 2010. Williamson will finally join the distinguished coterie of players, alongside long time teammate Tim Southee, when he will walk out for the second Test against Australia in Christchurch. The pair will become only the fifth and sixth players to feature in 100 Tests for New Zealand after Stephen Fleming became the first entrant to the club in 2006. Williamson is already his country's highest run getter (1000+ runs ahead of second placed Ross Taylor), leading century maker (13 more than Taylor), has more 50+ scores than anyone else (10 more than Fleming) and among those to have batted at least 50 times is the only New Zealand batter to average 50+ in Tests (Martin Crowe at a distant second with 45.37).
| Player | Tests | Runs | 100s | Wkts | 5-fers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Taylor | 112 | 7683 | 19 | 3 | 0 |
| Daniel Vettori | 112 | 4523 | 6 | 361 | 20 |
| Stephen Fleming | 111 | 7172 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Brendon McCullum | 101 | 6453 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Kane Williamson | 100* | 8675 | 32 | 30 | 0 |
| Tim Southee | 100* | 2072 | 0 | 378 | 15 |
Despite New Zealand playing fewer Tests compared to the 'Big Three' as testified by the aforementioned stat, Williamson finds himself in the creme de la creme of batters to have scaled the 100-Test pinnacle. Going into his 100th Test, Williamson's aggregate of 8675 runs is bettered only by Steven Smith (9113) and Brian Lara (8833) while his tally of 32 hundreds is matched only by Smith. Williamson forged his path with a simple and uncomplicated technique and remained committed to it for most parts of his career, playing the ball close to the body and playing it late often.
Most runs after 99 Tests
| Player | Runs | Avg | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Smith | 9113 | 59.56 | 32 |
| Brian Lara | 8833 | 52.27 | 23 |
| Kane Williamson | 8675 | 55.25 | 32 |
| Younis Khan | 8594 | 53.71 | 29 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 8572 | 55.66 | 25 |
Slow starter to Bradman lite
Williamson emerged onto the scene earmarked as the future of New Zealand batting and he hit the ground running scoring a century on debut against the then top-ranked Indian side in Ahmedabad. After a splendid start, success came only in a trickle for him over the next three or so years as New Zealand cricket went through a phase of transition and turmoil. Williamson averaged a modest 31.48 across his first 25 Tests up until the tour to England in 2013 though he stamped his class through the other two hundreds he scored in this period.
A maiden Test hundred on home soil on the final day of the Wellington Test against Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, and Morne Morkel no less to salvage a draw and another one eight months later in Colombo PSS which paved the way for a rare New Zealand win in the sub-continent offered testimonies of his untapped talent.
Brendon McCullum's ascension to captaincy changed New Zealand's fortunes and heralded the rise of Williamson. If McCullum was the poster boy of team's aggressive brand of cricket, Williamson was the rock in the batting lineup. Between the summer of 2013/14 until McCullum's final Test in 2016, Williamson made 2652 runs at 69.79 as he rose through the ranks and established himself in the 'Fab 4' of this generation's batting, alongside Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, and Joe Root. In this phase, Williamson hit ten Test hundreds, seven of them away, including crucial tons in series wins in the Caribbean in 2014, a masterful 192 in the emotional Sharjah Test later in the same year and followed those up with centuries in England and Australia in the following year.
Williamson career progression
| Period | Mat | Runs | Avg | 100s/50s | Home Avg | Away Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debut - July 2013 | 25 | 1385 | 31.48 | 3/8 | 41.00 | 27.48 |
| Oct 2013 - Mar 2016 | 23 | 2652 | 69.79 | 10/11 | 70.94 | 68.95 |
| July 2016 - Mar 2020 | 32 | 2439 | 54.20 | 8/13 | 59.24 | 47.90 |
| Since Nov 2020 | 19 | 2199 | 73.30 | 11/1 | 102.00 | 44.60 |
Williamson was the natural successor to McCullum and the next phase of his career, as captain, saw him leading New Zealand to two of their biggest triumphs of the 21st century - a 2-1 series win against Pakistan in the UAE in 2018 and their only world title till date in men's cricket, the inaugural World Test Championship in Southampton in 2021. Only Stephen Fleming has led New Zealand to more Test wins than Williamson's 22 while among those to have captained in at least 15 Tests for the Black Caps, Williamson is the only one to have won more than 50% of the games he led.
Two of New Zealand's golden periods in Test cricket, especially at home, have coincided with the careers of two of their greatest cricketers. They went unbeaten at home through the 1980s when Sir Richard Hadlee was at the peak of his powers and likewise their dominance at home in the last dozen years (only two series defeats in this period) have largely wrested on the brilliance of Williamson. Among the 80 players to have scored 3000+ runs in home Tests, Williamson's average of 67.81 at home is only bettered by Don Bradman (98.23).
In Tests post the Covid, Williamson averages a whopping 102 with nine hundreds in ten home Tests, including three doubles. In this period, he has averaged 73.30 across his last 19 Tests, having converted 11 of his last 12 fifty+ scores to three-figure knocks.
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