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New Zealand head coach Rob Walter has confirmed that Kane Williamson will be available for selection for the side's upcoming home matches. The 35-year-old's last appearance for the Black Caps came in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final against India held earlier this year in March. He had opted out of the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia and had not travelled to Zimbabwe either in order to participate in County Cricket and The Hundred.
Walter confirmed Williamson's availability for New Zealand's home summer, but added that they are still discussing his role for the matches.
“Kane, we’re still in conversations as to what the summer is going to look like. He will play, no doubt about that. Just what and where is still in discussion," Walter said after the 3rd T20I against Australia.
“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, which is that he wants to play for his country, and so nothing out exactly what that looks like can take an extra week or two, but surely, he deserves that," he added.
Who won the T20I series between New Zealand and Australia?
New Zealand's next assignment will be a three-match home T20I series against England that will commence from October 18. They will be hoping to improve their against the Three Lions after losing the T20I series to Australia on Saturday. The Baggy Greens won the three-match assignment by 2-0 with their three-wicket victory over the Kiwis in the final match. Following their defeat, Walter admitted that the team didn't play at their best during the series and added that the upcoming England series will be a big test for them as Harry Brook & Co. play in a similar way to that of the Aussies.
“There are little bits [of positives] here and there, but, to be fair, we were a little bit off our best game and when you do that against [Australia], who’ve won 25 of their last 30 T20 internationals, you’re going to find yourself on the wrong end of the result. Some of the areas that we weren’t competitive in are actually quite easy fixes, [they] just require a little bit of extra time on our part…like any loss there’ll be some positives most of the time and then some stuff that you walk away with and understanding that you have to do better as we move forward," Walter stated.
“With England arriving, you’ve got a team that’s going to play very similar to how Australia played in the series. So again, we get to check out if we actually have improved in the areas that we’ve identified and spoken about," he added.
What are New Zealand's upcoming fixtures?
Meanwhile, the Black Caps won't just be facing England in T20Is and will also be playing against them in a three-match ODI series as well. They will then be hosting West Indies for a five-match T20I, three-match ODI and a three-match Test series. This will be their final assignment of the year before they travel to India in January next year.
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