New Zealand’s Kane Williamson has been around for 15 years now on the international stage. He’s 35 and should be around till the 2027 ODI World Cup. Once thing is for certain, he’s certainly playing the T20 World Cup in 2026. The modern day great has confirmed that he will play in the ICC event. New Zealand made it to the final in 2021 under his captaincy but lost to Australia.

However, while Williamson shall play the upcoming ICC tournament, he will not be available for the T20I series in Australia that begins on October 1. He will play against England and West Indies though. This is because he along with the likes of Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert are representing New Zealand on casual contracts.

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So what is the casual contract system? Well, it permits the New Zealand players to take part in T20 leagues all over the world provided they commit to representing their country in some series and tournaments. This of course is limited to T20 cricket for the most part. When it comes to Tests and ODIs, they will have to be more readily available.

“With such a pinnacle event on the horizon we wanted to ensure our best T20 players were ready and available to push for inclusion,” said NZC boss Scott Weenink while speaking to the media, as per a Reuters report.

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“The message from the players is that playing for the Black Caps is hugely important to them and I’m pleased we’ve been able to agree terms to have them casually contracted for the coming season,” he added.

The right-handed Williamson has not played T20Is since New Zealand were knocked out of the 2024 T20 World Cup. He’s batted 90 times in 93 T20I games with 12 not-outs. His average is 33.01 along with a strike rate of 122.98. The man has scored 2575 runs and hit 18 50s with a top score of 95. The upcoming T20 World Cup could be his last and he will want to end things on a high in the shortest format.