Kane Williamson leaves New Zealand hanging in the middle; relinquishes Central Contract

Days after New Zealand's exit from the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, white-ball captain Kane Williamson has dropped a major bombshell about his future.

The Kane Williamson-led Kiwi side, which had become runners-up of the 2021 T20 World Cup, experienced a terrible ongoing T20 WC in the USA & West Indies. Drawn into Group C along with co-hosts Windies, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, the Blackcaps failed to win either of their first two matches.

New Zealand first lost to West Indies in their opening group game before losing to Rashid Khan's Afghanistan dramatically. Those losses made their chances of reaching the second round of the T20 World Cup extremely slim. Back-to-back wins against minnows Uganda and PNG could not even help their cause of reaching the Super 8s.

This was the first time since the 2019 Cricket World Cup that New Zealand exited without featuring in the second round of a white-ball tournament. Kane Williamson led the Kiwis to the 2019 CWC final, 2021 T20 WC final, 2022 T20 WC, and 2023 CWC semi-finals. The only major competition the Blackcaps won was the inaugural World Test Champions against India in England.

Kane Williamson relinquishes white-ball captaincy and opts out of New Zealand Central Contract

In the early hours of Wednesday, the New Zealand cricket board revealed something that the Kiwi as well as World Cricket fans weren't expecting. The NZC released in a statement that their T20I and ODI captain Kane Williamson is stepping down from the leadership role to pursue opportunities overseas.

Much like Trent Boult, who opted out of a Central Contract in 2021 to play in franchise leagues around the world, Kane Williamson is going to follow suit. He told the Kiwi board about his wish to no longer be included in the annual contract list as he wants to feature more in T20 leagues around the globe.

Kane Williamson admitted that he is very passionate about pushing the Kiwi team to greatness but his desires won't help the cause.

"Helping push the team forward across the formats is something I'm very passionate about and something I want to keep contributing towards. However, pursuing an overseas opportunity during the New Zealand summer means I'm unable to accept a central contract offer." - Williamson told the New Zealand Cricket Board.

Under Kane Williamson's captaincy, the Blackcaps became a major force to reckon with in the international circuit. However, despite reaching numerous ICC finals, the Kiwis could only win the red-ball championship in 2021.

Williamson says he wants to prioritize his family

Kane Williamson went on to further reveal his desire to prioritize his family over cricket at this stage of his life. The right-hand batter admitted that his life outside the cricket field has changed and that giving time to his young family is more important to him.

"My life outside cricket has changed, however. Spending more time with my family and enjoying experiences with them at home or abroad is something that's even more important to me." - Kane Williamson concluded.