Llorne Howell - Sports blogger Former cricket international for the Black Caps, Llorne Howell, gives his views on New Zealand's number one summer sport, both for the Bay and the national team.

Kane Williamson has a superb record to date in first class cricket. He is averaging near 50 in the longer version and over 50 in the shorter game.

Could Kane be the next Martin Crowe?
I compare him to Martin Crowe as he was an absolute genius at the crease. I played against Martin and was coached by him on many occasions. His technique was outstanding and his ability to absorb pressure and push through it to the other side was amazing.

Crowe took much of the batting pressures on his shoulders for NZ. The easiest time to bat for a No 4 is when your openers and No 3 blunt the new ball bowlers of the opposition and you can enter the fray after lunch or tea on the first day of a match. Then the ball is older, the bowlers are slightly worn down and a good No 4 can really dominate. Think of Australian openers and the partnerships they develop. This makes the game much easier for the strokemakers down the order.

For NZ this was not often the way for Crowe. He would be in before lunch with the new ball bowlers still steaming in and completely fresh. The pressure of a good score for the NZ team would fall largely on his shoulders. Also our NZ tracks traditionally seam more than in countries like Australia and India making top order batting a different and a tougher affair.

Under this pressure, Crowe fashioned a great record. He got close to 50 with his average and was respected worldwide for his great ability. If his knee had not got him at a young age I can imagine he would have had another four or five extremely prolific years at the crease. I think that if Martin had batted for Australia with the supportive strength of their batting order and on their wickets he would have averaged well over 50.

So can Kane emulate what one of our greats has done and become a new great?

Mentally Kane is very strong. Once he gets in he does push on. He is not intimidated by pressure and actually seems to excel in it. Once he gets a start, his range of shots is such that he turns the pressure quickly back onto the fielding side.

Technically he is one of the best straight drivers I have seen. He plays with a full face and amazing control. Playing with a full face to full bowling is the first thing any kid should learn to go higher in the game.
It gives you the greatest chance of staying in as the ball has to move much more to beat a straight bat as compared to showing your bat on an angle which means only 4-5cm shows to the bowler - doesn't take much movement for the ball to beat that.

With his straight bat and straight driving, Kane intimidates and dominates bowlers. They then tend to drop shorter to try and protect themselves from further scoring. Unfortunately for them Kane is extremely quick putting short balls away. He has been called the best back-foot player in NZ. So where does a bowler bowl to Kane. Basically your hope is that, like in club cricket in the Bay, the ball is moving heaps so all the cards are in the bowlers' favour. You can basically bowl a half volley and nick a guy out.

However, that not being the case as happens with wickets now in NZ, you are forced to try and contain Kane as best you can and hope he gets bored. He loves batting though, so boredom does not seem to strike. He may try a new shot for fun so there is a chance there.

To spin he has some of the quickest feet I have seen. We had Terry Jenner at the Howell Academy and he said the key to playing spin was quick feet. Either getting down the track or onto the stumps to hit square. Kane has this. Not many spinners can tie him down and he has a full array of shots. He will have some adjustments such as to the slower wickets of India when their tracks dry out. Playing a ball off a dry Indian wicket and the same ball in Australia can be entirely different. In Australia you can hit it straight without getting caught. In India you tend to wait for the ball and play with your wrists with the spin unless you want to give catching practice to the bowler.

For instance, in the West Indies at the moment the wickets are slow. The guys who are batting well are the guys who have played on slow wickets during the recent IPL. They have had the time to adjust in India then play a similar game in the WI - Morgan for England is an example.

So how good could Kane be? I look at players when the wicket becomes fair or good to bat on. Many NZ players in the past have learned to graft and fashion careers out of struggling away on seamer friendly wickets. This is a valued skill here for our first class sides, but does limit ones' shots. You see the real skill of a guy when the wicket is true and he can play as he sees it. Kane here is like Martin Crowe. Once the wicket is good these guys are virtually unstoppable. He can put the same ball in different places with late wrist shifts. He can play the same ball soft for a single or hard for a boundary. He oozes class when the conditions are not bowler friendly.
The important thing is this is generally the conditions test cricket is played in. From players, I have often heard that the hardest thing in test cricket is not to stay in. The hardest part is to score against quality bowling to keep your team score moving along. If you don't score you put yourself and your team under enormous pressure. That can bring wickets unless you are Geoff Boycott or Mark Richardson.

Kane on decent wickets will be able to keep the score moving against the best bowlers in the world. He will actually quite often turn the pressure onto them and the opposition team. As he can score like this and keep himself from getting under individual pressure I think the world is at his feet. He will also take pressure off other guys in the order by scoring at a good rate making it appear that the whole NZ batting side has improved.

So Kane really could be something very special for NZ. I am sure Martin Crowe will be watching with interest to see if Kane can break his records. After missing the match against Australia due to the green conditions, it will be interesting to see when he is selected next.