Kane Williamson: Respect is certainly there for Martin Crowe and what he’s done for the game

03/23/2018

Kane Williamson shot down claims of him being the best kiwi batsman of all time by reminding people of the legendary Martin Crowe, who has clearly been the best they have ever produced. This came after Williamson scored a record-breaking 18th Test ton, surpassing Ross Taylor and Martin Crowe.

Crowe is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen to have come out of the country of New Zealand. Crowe made his debut at a tender age of 17, and after almost 13 years with the national team he held the records for the most Test and One Day International (ODI) runs scored for New Zealand. He even mentored many Kiwi batting stars, which included the likes of Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

Williamson, who is the skipper of the national team, recently scored a record-breaking 18th Test ton which took him above Taylor and Crowe as the Kiwi batsman with the most Test-centuries to his name. However, Williamson was quick to shoot down claims that he was even better than his mentor as he stated that Crowe still had massive respect for all that he’d done for the game.

“Martin was a fantastic, world-class player for New Zealand. Our best player, or batsman, certainly, of all time, and the respect is certainly there for Martin and what he’s done for the game,” said Williamson in an interview to Cricbuzz.

Williamson might have surpassed Crowe in terms of numbers and records, but the skipper insisted that he doesn’t let stats and figures get into his head as far as his game is concerned.

“For me personally, I haven’t focused too much on stats. It’s always been about trying to do my best for the team, that’s why today it was frustrating to not still be out there. In saying that it was a fairly good delivery and you walk off and that’s part and parcel of the game. You want to keep going and try to contribute more and more,” Williamson said.

Joe Root, Steven Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are widely regarded as the four most skilled batsmen in current times. But although Williamson admitted that a little competition is healthy for the sport, he doesn’t spend too much time thinking about his opponents.

“I love the game. I enjoy watching it and there’s so many fantastic players around that I do enjoy watching, but not from a comparison point of view by any means. Some of them are mates, some of them I’ve played with and against and there’s a natural interest there, but I suppose my focus is about playing for the team, and I think that’s where you get your satisfaction, if you’re able to contribute and do your bit for a cause that comes out on the right side. Whether or not it does, you do want to be playing in that fashion,” Williamson added.

Kane Williamson: Respect is certainly there for Martin Crowe and what he’s done for the game

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