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Middlesex Cricket on Monday announced the signing of New Zealand star batter Kane Williamson for the 2025 season, during which he will don its colours for the T20 Blast and the County Championship.
The county club issued a statement regarding the same, saying, "Middlesex Cricket is today thrilled to announce that New Zealand's Kane Williamson, widely regarded as one of the greatest modern-day batters in the game, will be joining the Club for the 2025 season, and will feature in both the T20 Blast and the Rothesay County Championship." The all-time leading Test run-scorer for New Zealand will be available for at least ten of Middlesex's 14 T20 Blast group fixtures, whilst also being available to play for the Club in at least five County Championship clashes in the second half of the season. In an exceptional international career, in which he has captained his country in all formats, Williamson has made over 360 appearances for the Blackcaps, amassing over 18,000 runs, including 47 centuries. He averages an incredible 54.88 in Test cricket, 49.65 in ODI cricket, and 33.44 in the IT20 format of the game. He has twice previously played county cricket in England, with Gloucestershire in 2011 and 2012 and with Yorkshire between 2013 and 2018, however he joins Middlesex having dominated world cricket in recent years and having featured in the ICC's World Test Team of the Year in seven of the last ten years. In the T20 format of the game, he has featured across the globe in each of the world's biggest franchise competitions, representing both the Gujarat Titans and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League, the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and Durban's Super Giants in the SA20, and is set to team up with Karachi Kings at this year's Pakistan Super League (PSL), starting in mid-April. Whilst in the UK this summer, Williamson will also feature for London Spirit in the Hundred, making Lord's his home in 2025 from May through to the end of September. Speaking of Kane Williamson signing for Middlesex this year, Alan Coleman, the Club's Director of Cricket, commented: "We are hugely excited about Kane joining Middlesex this summer and are looking forward to him making a positive impact in both our Blast and Championship campaigns." "To have secured one of the most talented players in the world game is a real coup, and we can't wait to welcome him to Lord's and to seeing him heading out with the three Seaxes on his chest." "Having a player like Kane in the Middlesex dressing room will be a huge plus for the entire squad, and especially our younger players, who will benefit enormously from playing alongside one of the world's best," he concluded. On signing for Middlesex, Williamson himself commented: "I have played a bit of county cricket in the past, but not for a number of years now, so when this opportunity arose with Middlesex, it was a really exciting prospect. "To be able to play for Middlesex - a fine club with a rich heritage - is really exciting and something that I'm really looking forward to being a part of. To play at Lord's, the Home of Cricket - which is one of my favourite grounds in the world for so many different reasons - is something I'm especially looking forward to also. "There's a good balance of youth and experience in the Middlesex squad, which is great, and I am really excited to join up with the team, meet the players in the squad and helping out wherever I can," he concluded. (ANI)
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