Irrespective of the stardom they enjoy, cricketers should always be careful about their conduct both on and off the field, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has emphasised.
Leading a side comprising the “nicest guys of world cricket”, the New Zealand captain highlighted the need for good behaviour as it also serves as a lesson to a lot of kids watching the game.
“That is something important, particularly I guess, playing a sport and having a profile where we’re ambassadors of our game, and we are all fortunate to do what we do. You have kids watching, so your behaviour on and off the field is pretty important,” Williamson said during a media interaction organised by Amazon Prime Video, which owns the New Zealand Cricket media rights.
“That (behaviour) can vary as the competition can get fierce. But at the end of the day, it’s a game we love and a game we’re fortunate to play at the highest level.
“I know for our team and all the other New Zealand sides. We generally regard it (conduct) as something pretty important in terms of our behaviour and our values,” Williamson added.
His words could also double up as a timely reminder, especially to those successful players who aren’t careful enough about not crossing the line and even court controversy with their inappropriate choice of words.
A good team environment, which is a matter of pride for the Black Caps, also helps them in conducting themselves well on and off the field. The superstar culture too is something the New Zealanders don’t quite entertain.
“What we’ve got is a great team environment. Not only the players, but also the support staff buy into it,” said senior Black Caps quick Tim Southee, who too was present at the event along with fellow pacer Kyle Jamieson, and New Zealand women cricketers Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Amanda Kerr.
“Within the group, we respect everyone, have a lot of fun and make sure everyone’s ready to go. We don’t have superstars in our coaching staff either. The guys buy into what the team is about and trying to achieve, which works pretty well for our group.”
Challenges ahead
It turned out to be a relatively successful year for New Zealand, having won the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) title and finishing runners-up in the T20 World Cup. But their performance in Test matches overseas still requires some improvement, Southee pointed out.
Agreeing with Southee’s view, Williamson shed light on his team’s need to keep moving in the right direction. “There’s another T20 World Cup not too far away (in October-November next year in Australia), so there seems to be a lot of exciting cricket with a lot of context.
“As a side, you always try to navigate those challenges and just keep trying to improve and move in the right direction. We know the challenges that lie ahead are fierce ones and ones that as a side we are looking forward to preparing for,” he said.
