Cricket: Williamson ready for pace barrage - coach

Northern Districts batsman Kane Williamson in line for his test debut. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Potential test cricket debutant Kane Williamson is definitely old enough and comfortably good enough to be thrown in against Australia, says his provincial coach.

Former test allrounder Grant Bradburn, the Northern Districts coach, hailed the 19-year-old batsman's callup today to the New Zealand 13-man squad for Saturday's second test at Seddon Park.

Williamson, who doesn't turn 20 until August, was the only change to the New Zealand squad beaten by 10 wickets in Wellington, replacing paceman Daryl Tuffey who has a broken hand.

"When is the right time? Is it best to wait until the winter against the likes of Malinga and Murali in Sri Lanka, or is it best to play him here at Seddon, a ground he knows so well, and a nice placid easy-paced pitch," Bradburn told Radio Sport.

"He's very comfortable against fast bowling, he's in fine form, so you have to say it's a timely pick because they're selecting someone in form with the skills to combat what's going to be a very tough ask against Australia. Kane is a beautiful back foot player and he's ready."

Bradburn received a call from selector/coach Mark Greatbatch in the team dressing room in Whangarei yesterday afternoon, informing him of Williamson's callup.

He passed the phone to Williamson who was "absolutely ecstatic".

Bradburn said while the Tauranga product was still learning his craft as a handy offspinner, he batted like someone aged closer to 29 than 19.

"He's a natural and he's got such a thirst for learning. He loves talking about the game and he takes a bit of ribbing in our dressing room because he's very rarely without a bat in his hand standing in front of a mirror, or window, playing forward defensive shots."

Williamson made his first-class debut at 17 and averages 48.34 from 19 matches. In the Plunket Shield this season he's scored 588 runs at 53.45, and was named MVP of the domestic one-day competition.

If included on Saturday he'll be the 15th-youngest New Zealand test debutant, older than teammates Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee, and other such names as Richard Collinge, Martin Crowe, Ken Rutherford, Chris Cairns and Adam Parore.

Crowe and Rutherford had torrid debuts against the Australian and West Indies pace attacks respectively, but Greatbatch rejected suggestions it was too soon.

"I don't see any Dennis Lillee or Jeff Thomson, or Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne," Greatbatch said.

"The lad is pretty experienced for his young years and he's got a good head on him. If he plays, he'll be nervous like Brent Arnel was, but Arnel performed pretty well in his first test."

Greatbatch wouldn't label Williamson a certain starter but said the easy-paced Hamilton pitch was a better place to debut than the bouncier Wellington surface that saw Tuffey invalided out by a Mitchell Johnson short ball.

Williamson and Mathew Sinclair, fresh from 129 against Auckland, would certainly bolster the batting, and No 3 Peter Ingram could potentially make way for the latter.

"(Sinclair) is an option. He's just come off a hundred and he's a positive sort of player.

"That's what we've got to do to beat this Australian side, play positively but make good decisions, we can't keep making the same mistakes we've been making."

Greatbatch expected a slow surface and said Jeetan Patel would be considered as a second spinner; while another seamer could be summoned if conditions appeared pace-friendly.

But Patel's inclusion would lengthen the tail even further, with Southee, Arnel and Chris Martin already filling the bottom three spots.

Williamson could slot in anywhere from six to eight, around the two in-form batsmen Vettori and Brendon McCullum.

Said Greatbatch: "He (Vettori) has been very successful (at No 6) and we'd be a bit loath to move him.

"But he has been doing a lot so we just need to assess those conditions and come up with the best mix."

- NZPA