‘He will play, no doubt, just what and where is in discussion,’ coach Rob Walter on Williamson

‌New Zealand coach Rob Walter emphasised that former captain Kane Williamson deserves the extra time to chart out of his playing calendar for the rest of the summer. The former Kiwis’ skipper, who is on a casual playing contract with New Zealand, had made himself unavailable for the three-match T20I at home against Australia after skipping the Zimbabwe tour to play County cricket and The Hundred.

Williamson is yet to confirm whether he will be available for selection for the white-ball series against England, which kicks off in Christchurch on October 18. Walter highlighted that the discussions are ongoing, and he will be part of the New Zealand setup as the side builds up to the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka early next year.

"Kane, we're still in conversations as to what the summer is going to look like," Walter told reporters after the Aussie series. "He will play, no doubt about that. Just what and where is still in discussion.

"I think the reality is we're dealing with all the guys on casual contracts, actually, in different positions from a playing point of view. Kane is one of those, and he deserves the opportunity to sit and talk about what the rest of his year will look like. But I keep coming back to the most important thing, is that he wants to play for his country, and so nutting out exactly what that looks like can take an extra week or two, but surely, he deserves that."

Apart from Williamson, the home side missed a host of its players during the 2-0 loss against their Trans-Tasman rivals. Finn Allen, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, and Glenn Phillips missed the Aussie series with injuries and are expected to be away for the England series too.

Meanwhile, white-ball captain Mitchell Santner, who had an abdominal injury, and Rachin Ravindra, whose unfortunate injury while training saw him ruled out at the eleventh hour, are expected to be back for the Black Caps. Walter, however, was not concerned about not getting an opportunity to play his players together as the marquee event fast approaches.

"I think we don't live in an ideal world, and so that's part and parcel of it," he said. "I've been part of a World Cup campaign [with South Africa] where the team assembled at its full strength three days before our first game, and that team managed to make a final.

" I think what's more important is the environment and the team culture that sort of assimilates together when it needs to. We do know that by the back end of the India series [in January], before the World Cup, that's when our full World Cup squad will be together.

"For me, as long as the guys are playing competitive cricket, that's important, and almost everyone has been part of the environment at some point, so I would assume that they can fit seamlessly back into it."

With replacements Tim Robinson and James Neesham putting in impressive performances, Walter also acknowledged that once the full side is available, some players will miss out of the starting eleven. He also underlined that it is a good headache to have, and it indicated how strong the system is. 

"Ultimately, when things are operating the way they should, everyone's not fighting for their position, but understands that competition for places is there," Walter said. "You want your best crop of players in the park and in the squad. As you've heard me say many times before, the stronger the player that's left out, the better the system."