Kane Williamson

Host: Thank you for joining us today, Kane. It is a pleasure to have you. I'd like to begin by talking a bit about your early journey in cricket.

You've played cricket all your life. You scored 40 centuries by the time you'd left school. Was representing New Zealand internationally always on the cards, or did it become a goal later on?

Kane Williamson: Oh, firstly, I just wanna say it's a real honor to get the invitation to come here, to Oxford and speak. I must admit, when I got the invitation, I questioned whether they had the right person because some of the names on the, on the invitation that have come and spoken here before are, you know, incredibly influential people, and I'd certainly wouldn't throw myself, anywhere near that category.

But it is very, humbling to have this, opportunity. In terms of my cricketing journey, I'll try and keep it brief 'cause I'm assuming people just wanna hear about the World Cup. I guess, twin brother, three older sisters, and a large family that were all very enthusiastic about sport and my dad was right into cricket, so the interest in cricket grew, fairly naturally.

And fortunate to live near a school field where there was some fundraising done to put up some cricket nets, which suited me just fine.

And a lot of my, I guess, days after school were spent, practicing, and then I guess if you fast-forward over the years at, into age group cricket, into, to my school years as well and just sort of loved the sport and the progression part, kind of came off the back of, enjoying what I was doing.

And then getting the experience to play some professional cricket, towards the end of my college years, was a new experience. And those number of hundreds that you mentioned, I think every year that you leave school, they grow, which is pretty which is impressive. You always want more, but I don't recall scoring 40 of them at school.

But yeah, I mean, it's, it's, I don't know if it's, anything special in terms of the journey, but one thing that I've always tried to maintain is, the enjoyment of what I do, and that can be challenged, at times, certainly when you get into the professional, area of the sport, and there are so many other challenges, but also very fortunate as well.

And you certainly see that every day, that you're fortunate to do what you love, and as a job. Host: I see. So you made your test debut in 2010 against India, and you scored a century there as well. How is it that this phenomenal beginning then affected the rest of your career, and how is it that at such a young age you adjusted to the international spotlight?

Kane Williamson: Yeah, I guess, if you rewind, and that was an interesting experience for me, making my debut. It was, You never could foresee the opportunity to play for your country. It was probably less of a goal and more of a, an idea or a dream that was only real when it, when it was actually happening.

And I do recall making a, an A side, prior to the Black Caps, and when the Black Caps were never on your real radar or the opportunity to play international cricket was never on the radar, the, scoring runs and giving it that purity was a little bit more authentic.