'It's improving' - Kane Williamson provides injury update after winning Halberg sportsman of the year

In what can be called a delightful piece of news for New Zealand cricket, Kane Williamson’s recovery from a long-standing elbow injury is on right track. The Kiwi skipper, who was named sportsman of the year at Wednesday (February 23) night’s Halberg Awards, gave an update on his stubborn injury, which has kept him out of action since November last year.

Williamson last featured in the first Test against India but was subsequently ruled out due to his persistent elbow issues. He also missed the home Test series against Bangladesh and is giving the ongoing South Africa series a miss as well. As this issue has been troubling Williamson from a long time now, the right-handed batter doesn’t want to rush his comeback.

Fortunately for the Blackcaps, Williamson told Gold AM’s Country Sport Breakfast that his elbow injury, which has been troubling him since late 2020, was responding well. Notably, New Zealand is set to host Netherlands in three ODIs and a solitary T20I next month. On being asked about the possibility of featuring in those fixtures, the 31-year-old said forgoing a likely return date is a part of the treatment strategy this time.

Kane Williamson determined to get the rid of his elbow issues for once and all

“It’s improving, it’s been a bit of a long slog. Hopefully this time gives it gets what it needs, it will be nice to put it behind me. It does seem to be progressing quite well – in last small period my batting load has started to increase quite a bit more, it’s looking positive” he said.

Meanwhile, the Kiwis didn’t feel Williamson’s absence in the first Test against South Africa, where they annihilated the Proteas side at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The hosts were brilliant across the three departments as they won by an innings and 276 runs. However, Williamson expects South Africa to make a strong comeback in the second and final Test.

“We couldn’t have hoped for much better [in the first test]. Everybody bowled beautifully, there were a number of great contributions with the bat and we caught everything – it was one of those days. I very much think South Africa will be better for the outing,” he added.