Kane Williamson represents the most-hyped selection since an 18-year-old kid made the same rapid transition from first-class cricket to the test side in 1997.
He's ended up being quite handy, has Daniel Vettori.
Williamson is a year older than Vettori was when he broke into the national side but the
same age as Martin Crowe and Ken Rutherford when they made their debuts in 1982 and 1985 respectively.
It is the latter two who are always offered up as cautionary tales when debating whether to select teenage prodigies.
Crowe's career was, by his own estimation, set back three years after failing against Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee, while there's an argument that Rutherford never completely recovered from being exposed to the West Indies' pace quartet in hostile territory - a test average of 27.1 was never good enough for a player of his natural ability.
It might be tempting fate, but look more to the example set by Vettori when it comes to assessing Williamson, as there's something special about the way they develop cricketers in Northern Districts.
They tend to be well-rounded individuals, perhaps because from a young age they've had to spend the bulk of their summers away from the family home, travelling far and wide across a region that stretches from Northland to Poverty Bay.
They have an in-built tendency towards the phlegmatic, with little or no sense of the entitlement that can blight metropolitan cricketers.
Williamson, who is mature beyond his years, fits that mould.
He had a difficult winter away with the New Zealand A and Emerging Players sides last year.
That loss of confidence continued into the start of the domestic season.
According to his coach, Grant Bradburn, not once did he sulk, curse his bad luck or look to blame others.
Instead he fell back on that Gary Player mantra of the harder he worked, the luckier he would get.
An incredible one-day competition for Northern Districts was followed by two big Plunket Shield centuries and here he is now, in Hamilton hoping to be named in the XI to play Australia.
Is he ready?
Mentally he has proven his toughness by coming back strongly from his first prolonged form slump.
Technically he is the best back-foot player in the country.
Throw in his capable offspin and there is little doubt he is one of the best 11 players in the country.
Does that guarantee immediate success? Of course not.
But neither would waiting any longer.
Kane Williamson. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times
Opinion by Dylan CleaverLearn more
Kane Williamson represents the most-hyped selection since an 18-year-old kid made the same rapid transition from first-class cricket to the test side in 1997.
He's ended up being quite handy, has Daniel Vettori.
Williamson is a year older than Vettori was when he broke into the national side but the
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.