My favourite Kane Williamson memory will always be his scoring 101 runs in challenging conditions against a penetrating 🇮🇳 attack in the inaugural World Test Championship final. @BLACKCAPS’ golden era of Test cricket from 2014-2021 would simply have been impossible without him.

Not sure why, but @FIFAWorldCup is the one sporting tournament in which I’m an unabashed supporter of the Australian national team (unless they’re playing New Zealand). Let’s go Australia!

🎙️How high does Kane Williamson rank on the list of New Zealand greats? youtube.com/watch?v=D9Pnn27e…

My 10 favourite Williamson ODI innings: 45* v 🇦🇺 Auckland 2015 67 v 🇮🇳 Manchester 2019 106* v 🇿🇦 Birmingham 2019 148 v 🏝️ Manchester 2019 118 v 🇮🇳 Delhi 2016 102 v 🇿🇦 Lahore 2025 145* v 🇿🇦 Kimberley 2013 118 v 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Southampton 2015 112* v 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wellington 2018 108 v 🇧🇩 Mirpur 2010

My 11 favourite Williamson Test innings: 49 v 🇮🇳 Soton 2021 52* v 🇮🇳 Soton 2021 139 v 🇵🇰 Abu Dhabi 2018 135 v 🇱🇰 Colombo 2012 161* v 🏝️ Bridgetown 2014 192 v 🇵🇰 Sharjah 2014 113 v 🇮🇳 Akld 2014 132 v 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wgtn 2023 121* v 🇱🇰 Chch 2023 140 v 🇦🇺 Brisbane 2015 131 v 🇮🇳 Ahmedabad 2010

From the time I started playing cricket, Kane Williamson has been one of the most technically compact and magnificent batters I have seen. Balance, timing, and that trademark calm at the crease came together to make his batting one of the most consistently pleasing sights in world cricket. A thorough gentleman and a true role model for youngsters. His retirement will probably be received with unexpected relief in more than a few bowling camps. Wishing him luck and success in his next chapter.

Karagampitiya Vihara, Dehiwala.

Kane Williamson is another one of those extraordinary teenage talents, like Joe Root or Shubman Gill. Earmarked for greatness. And it was never really doubt. An exceptional technician, superb player... could make time stop when the ball was delivered to him...

Kane Williamson was the backbone of New Zealand Cricket this century. When it comes to the GOAT debate, it is him or Hadlee. Both were generationally great, but only Kane was able to lead a winning culture and collects silverware.

There’s no @BLACKCAPS batter I’ve enjoyed watching more than Martin Crowe. But this is one answer to the question: why do you think Williamson has a better record than Crowe?

Williamson v Crowe’s batting averages (cf average of middle order bats in opposing teams in games they played): Tests Williamson 54.06 (41.13) Crowe 45.36 (38.51) ODIs Williamson 48.69 (38.31) Crowe 38.55 (33.11) So, Williamson out-scored his opponents by more than Crowe.

Williamson’s Test record: 4-0 v 🇿🇼 1-0 v ☘️ 5-1 v 🇧🇩 9-3 v 🏝️ 7-3 v 🇵🇰 9-4 v 🇱🇰 4-5 v 🇮🇳 5-9 v 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2-5 v 🇿🇦 1-9 v 🇦🇺 As he was the only active player left from @BLACKCAPS’ last Test victory vs 🇦🇺 (Hobart, 2011), he’s currently the only 🇳🇿 player to have beaten 10 Test sides.

Always wonderful to catch up with @dilhanfernando to talk about our shared loves of tea, cricket, New Zealand & Sri Lanka. @TheDilmahFamily

🇺🇸 look pretty good.

Despite all those glittering achievements, for a cricket aficionado, it is Williamson’s batsmanship and mannerisms that turn out to be the cornerstones of his cricketing journey. Oh! How to forget the traits of Williamson? Silently walking away a touch towards the square-leg umpire, tapping the bat, rubbing a little bit of dirt with his shoes inside batting crease and then to keep his eyes on the ball all the way through. Simply put, his old-school front-foot batting and displaying remarkable sangfroid during difficult times will be sorely missed in the grand theatre of sport.

Many great Test players struggle on too long, past their best, and see precipitous drops in their averages, eg Kohli from 55.1-46.9 & Ponting from 60.0-51.9. While I’d always want more Kane innings for 🇳🇿, I’m glad he’s retired now rather than eked out a few more scratchy series

Best ever @BLACKCAPS, in my view: 1. Richard Hadlee 2. Kane Williamson

From Jan 2014 & the WTC title in June 2021, @BLACKCAPS went 33-17 in Tests - a very successful era for 🇳🇿 built largely on Latham, Taylor & Williamson’s runs & Boult, Southee & Wagner’s wickets. 5 years on, the new bowling attack is much readier for battle than the new top order

Between 2011 and 2019, Kane Williamson missed just 2 of @BLACKCAPS’ 77 Tests - or 2.6 percent. But between 2020 and 2025, he missed 14 of 44 Tests - or 31.8 percent. His Test retirement has been happening gradually, over a period of years.

Sad to hear of Kane W's retirement from Tests - end of an era. Ranks 15th on the all time list of Era Index scores of the 108 Test batters with 5000 runs, the highest for NZ - a special talent with a sublime cover drive.

Williamson played exactly half of his 110 Tests in 🇳🇿 Here’s his record compared to the opposing number threes in the same Tests: In 🇳🇿 Williamson: 5327 runs at 65.76 Opposition: 3157 runs at 31.25 Overseas Williamson: 4188 runs at 44.08 Opposition: 3811 runs at 40.42