Kane Unable

GH farewells Williamson

Kane Williamson presented a study during the Lord’s Test, his 110th, with some pathos. He batted at number three, where for so long he was a guarantor of New Zealand batting quality. He fielded at slip, where his hands were always soft and enveloping. But to his first ball in the first innings, he propped forward, and an inducker looped from the pad to a predatory short-leg catcher. In the second, he played a few soundless flicks and a velvety off-drive before being plumb lbw to Josh Tongue for 18 - his review, a Hail Mary, was to no avail. As he vanished, still helmeted, up the stairs, the commentators reflected that this might be his last Test at Lord’s. He had more decisive plans.

Williamson turns thirty-six in August. His beard is flecked with grey. But that’s not the only reason for him to ‘step away’ - it’s that he had already stepped back, abjuring a central contract two years ago, and playing only five of New Zealand’s Tests in the last thirty months. He revived his ODI career last year with fine hundreds against South Africa. But otherwise he was a name on a T20 franchise teamsheet, or at home with a young family, and red ball cricket requires more than such spasmodic intensity: a Test career is a life’s work. That was the message of Virat Kohli’s retirement last year, and also his continuation in the Indian Premier League. You can still be an amazing cricketer, but unable to scale the heights of the toughest cricket of all. Kohli was among the first to acknowledge Williamson’s exit, and may know better than most how he feels.