CHENNAI: Kane Williamson said the legacy of the All Blacks inspires New Zealand’s cricketers as he prepares to return from a long injury layoff to captain the team at the ICC World Cup.

New Zealand have won their opening two matches of the mega event in India in the absence of their skipper, who injured his knee while playing in the Indian Premier League in late March.

The Black Caps face Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday in their third match of the tournament.

“It’s been quite a journey but largely a good one that’s had some really good progress and you know I’ve said a number of times, really excited to be named in the World Cup squad, be sitting here now and really excited at the prospect of tomorrow,” he said on Thursday.

The Black Caps have never won the World Cup, though they came agonisingly close in 2019, beaten by an England team who had scored more boundaries in the match.

That contrasts with the All Blacks, who have won the Rugby World Cup three times and play Ireland in the quarter-finals in France on Saturday.

Williamson, 33, was asked whether that legacy of success inspired his men.

“We love the All Blacks,” he said. “You know, coming from New Zealand obviously rugby is our number one game and so I think everybody in the squad is pretty passionate about rugby and following their journey at the moment at the World Cup and the success that they’ve had.

“For us, we’ve had some really enjoyable times recently and got pretty close, but you still have to start again. And there’s been some good performances so far.”

He added: “We’re here as a cricket team but I think something that you do hear often about their side is their culture, their environment, and their ability to keep moving forward as a team and adapting to what’s in front of them, whether that’s the movement of the game and how that keeps changing and evolving.

“They keep doing really well at staying ahead of that curve. We just want to keep getting better as a side, keep growing as a side and that’s our focus.”

Williamson is a key batsman for New Zealand, amassing 6,554 runs in ODI cricket at an impressive average of nearly 48.

He said his return had involved a “series of really small steps”, admitting there were doubts over whether he would be fit to play any part in the tournament although he did feature in the pre-event warm-up schedule.

“To be honest, it was probably a good thing just to get my head stuck into rehab each day and not sort of rush it and that was really my focus,” he said.

“And I was fortunate as well I had a really, really good team around me back home and also fortunate not to have a lot of setbacks during that time, so there were lots of little steps forward which I guess accumulate to being here now really.”

Meanwhile, Williamson said veteran fast bowler Southee has been recovering following surgery on his fractured right thumb but would not play on Friday.

“Tim’s progressing well, but won’t be playing tomorrow’s game,” Williamson said.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2023