Kane Stuart Williamson (born 8 August 1990) is a former international cricketer who captained the New Zealand national cricket team in all formats of this game. A right-handed batsman and an occasional off spin bowler, Williamson is the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in Test cricket and is widely regarded as one of the world's best contemporary batsmen and one of the greatest New Zealand captains and batsmen of all time. He captained New Zealand to victory in the 2021 ICC World Test Championship final and to the finals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup. He was also a part of the New Zealand squad to finish as runners-up at the 2015 Cricket World Cup and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Williamson retired from international cricket on 12 June 2026.
Williamson made his first-class cricket debut while still a schoolboy at Tauranga Boys' College, in December 2007. He made his U-19 debut against the touring Indian U-19 team the same year and was named captain of the New Zealand U-19 team for the 2008 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He made his international debut in 2010. Williamson has represented New Zealand at the 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 editions of the Cricket World Cup and 2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, 2022 and 2024 editions of the ICC World Twenty20. He made his full-time captaincy debut for New Zealand in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India. He captained New Zealand at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, leading the team to the final and winning the Player of the Tournament award in the process. On 31 December 2020, he reached a Test batting rating of 890, surpassing Steve Smith and Joe Root as the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world. He was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for Test cricketer of the decade. Ian Chappell and Martin Crowe have ranked Williamson among the top four Test cricket batsmen, along with Joe Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli of the current era.
Williamson was the only New Zealander to be named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade (2011–2020). He won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award in 2018. The late former New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe noted that "we're seeing the dawn of probably our greatest ever batsman" in Williamson. In June 2021, he captained New Zealand to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, the first ICC trophy the team won since winning the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy. In November 2021, he led New Zealand to the final of the ICC T20 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of his generation. Williamson retired from all international cricket on June 12, 2026, with immediate effect, after making 0 and 18 against England at Lords. Speaking on the decision, Williamson said "I've thought about it for a while, but over the last few days it's become clear now is the right time," and "I've always felt a strong drive and hunger for international cricket, and I take pride in knowing I've given it my all in every match I've played for New Zealand. Continuing with anything less wouldn't be right and I feel fortunate to step away on my own terms.
Williamson was born on 8 August 1990 in Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty region on the North Island of New Zealand. His father Brett was a sales representative who had played under-17 and club cricket in New Zealand and his mother Sandra had been a representative basketball player. He has a twin brother Logan, who is one minute younger than him. The brothers have three older sisters, Anna, Kylie and Sophie. All three were accomplished volleyball players, and Anna and Sophie were in New Zealand age group teams. Williamson's grandmother Joan Williamson-Orr served as mayor of Taupō. His first cousin Dane Cleaver has also played international cricket for New Zealand.
Williamson played senior representative cricket at the age of 14 and first-class cricket at 16. He attended Tauranga Boys' College from 2004 to 2008, where he was head boy in his final year. He was coached by Pacey Depina who described Williamson as having "a thirst to be phenomenal – but not at anyone else's expense." He reportedly scored 40 centuries before he left school.
Williamson made his debut for Northern Districts in 2007 at the age of 17, who he has remained with for the duration of his New Zealand domestic career.
He scored his first T20 hundred, on 19 September 2014, making 101* in 49 balls to guide Northern Districts to a comfortable win against Cape Cobras in Champions League Twenty20 2014.
Williamson signed for Gloucestershire to play in the 2011 English county season. On 14 August 2013, he signed for Yorkshire for the rest of the season and subsequently signed to return for the 2014 season, when his team won the County Championship. He signed to return the latter part of the 2015 season, but when incumbent overseas player Aaron Finch was not selected for the Australia ODI squad, Yorkshire ultimately chose to extend Finch's deal in place of Williamson. He subsequently signed a deal for part of the 2016 season, and also returned for a part of the 2018 season.
In 2025, Middlesex announced that they would be signing him for the upcoming 2025 season, as well as playing for the London Spirit.
In February 2015, a Williamson signed for Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He played for the team in the 2016 season, winning the title, and was retained for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He captained the team in 2018, replacing David Warner. Under Williamson's captaincy, Sunrisers Hyderabad finished runners-up and he was the season's leading scorer with 735 runs. In IPL 2021, Kane took over the captaincy from David Warner in the middle of the season. He was retained by the franchise for the 2022 edition as the captain, but failed to perform, scoring one half-century. Ahead of the 2023 season, he was bought by the Gujarat Titans, but was injured in the first match of the season. He would go on to play for the Titans for the 2024 season before being released and would remain unsold for the 2025 season.
In the 2021 The Hundred season, Williamson was drafted for Birmingham Phoenix but withdrew because of an ongoing elbow injury.
In The Hundred 2025, Williamson became the first male to become a direct signing for London Spirit. He becomes the captain of the Spirit as well as playing for the host county Middlesex. He played all 8 games for Spirit, scoring 204 runs as the team won just 3 games, failing to qualify for the playoffs.
Williamson has featured in several T20 franchise leagues around the world.
He played for Gloucestershire in the Friends Life t20 in 2011 and 2012, scoring 324 runs across 17 matches.
He later represented Yorkshire in the NatWest T20 Blast in 2014 and 2016, amassing 302 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 118.89. He returned to the Vitality Blast with Yorkshire in 2018 and joined Middlesex for the 2025 season. As of August 2025, he had made 24 appearances in the competition, scoring 676 runs.
In other T20 leagues, Williamson played for the Barbados Tridents in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League, scoring 172 runs without any half-centuries or centuries.
He featured in the third season of the SA20 for Durban's Super Giants in January and February 2025, scoring 233 runs in 8 matches at an average of 46.60 and a strike rate of 118.87. Williamson returned to Durban's Super Giants in the 2026 SA20 season, replacing Taijul Islam. He went on to play 7 matches as the team finished 5th and he scored just 110 runs the whole season.
Williamson has also won two major franchise T20 titles. He was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad that won the 2016 Indian Premier League title. Most recently, in January 2026, he joined the Rajshahi Warriors in the 12th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. He contributed key performances—including an unbeaten 45* off 38 balls in Qualifier 2 and 24 off 15 balls in the final (adding a partnership with centurion Tanzid Hasan)—to help the team reach and win both playoff matches, defeating Sylhet Titans in Qualifier 2 and Chattogram Royals by 63 runs in the final to secure their maiden BPL title.