Genuinely think no one thought boundary-count scenario would ever come up, claims Kane Williamson

11/21/2019

Kane Williamson has revealed that he genuinely feels that the officials who decide on the rules ever thought that the result of the World Cup final would come down to boundary count. England lifted the World Cup trophy in July, beating New Zealand by a margin of nine more boundaries.

Although the teams could not be separated at the end of the 50 overs, or the Super Over that followed, it was the English players who jumped around for joy after being crowned world champions. While the Kiwi skipper accepts that the rules were already in place, the circumstances, he believes, were not really cricket; the ICC has since abolished the boundary-count rule altogether.

"I genuinely think that no-one ever thought that was going to happen and it did. At times, you think about how some of those decisions are made; probably sitting in a room a little like this and throwing a few ideas around. That's all I can imagine. And then for it to actually happen is a pretty scary thing," Williamson said from Mount Maunganui, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"I guess it highlighted something and it will probably never happen again. It's not really cricket and I think both teams appreciated that. It was hard to take. But at the same time those rules were already in place,” he said.

Despite being forced to swallow a hard pill of such magnitude, no animosity exists between New Zealand and England. Williamson and Joe Root, the England Test captain, has carried on the friendship they developed while playing together for Yorkshire.

"Culturally, socially, there are a lot of similarities between the Kiwis and the English. If you go back to people who go to uni and do their two-year visa over there, it's a common thing. People travel and spend a lot of time with the English. A number of guys have played county and franchise cricket. A few friendships have been built through that," Williamson said.

"When Joe was around at Yorkshire, we would chew the fat and discuss cricket. I'd ask 'How do I become as good as you, Joe?' and try to pick his brains. I loved my time over in county cricket. The social part and the environment is similar. It's a brilliant place to learn your game. At the same time, they are really competitive matches and the guys enjoy playing against England,” Williamson added.

The two sides are now facing each other in a two-match Test series, which is part of the ICC Test Championship, in New Zealand.