May 26, 2017
LONDON: New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson said the squad he will lead into June´s Champions Trophy should be in good form given plenty of recent preparations but admits that is no guarantee for success when it comes to one-off clashes.
Williamson, who is set to lead New Zealand into his first major 50-over tournament as captain, said a lot of the team´s members have been heavily involved in the Indian Premier League while others were in Ireland for the Tri-Series last week.
"It counts for something but not for everything because we still come back to one-off clashes with opponents and if you win then you can go a long way in the competition," said Williamson, who took over as captain from Brendon McCullum in 2016.
"But there is not much time for slip-ups or conservative cricket."
New Zealand are in Group A of the Champions Trophy, to be held in England from June 1-18, with Australia, England and Bangladesh the other teams in their group.
Williamson is familiar with being a part of thrilling one-day series in England but hopes his team will fare better this year after squandering a 2-1 lead over England in a best-of-five one-day series in 2015.
"Any time you have those experiences against opponents you are coming up against in similar conditions, it is the same side too, it is only a good thing," said Williamson.
"But you don´t tend to look too much into it in tournaments like this – it is a one-off game and both teams will be playing with freedom and hope it comes off.”
