NZ skipper Williamson out of Bangladesh series with elbow injury

Thursday, 11 March 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

WELLINGTON (Reuters): New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the one-day series against Bangladesh with an elbow problem, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday.

Williamson, who led the ‘Black Caps’ to a 3-2 T20 series win over Australia on Sunday, has a small tear in his left elbow tendon and had been “experiencing irritation” in the latter half of the summer, NZC said in a statement.

“Kane has been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved,” NZC Medical Manager Dayle Shackel said.

“He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover.

“We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right.

“Time-frames can vary but we’re hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week.”

Coach Gary Stead said it was a blow to lose Williamson for the three-game ODI series against Bangladesh, which starts on 20 March, but it was the right call.

“Kane loves playing for his country – so it hasn’t been an easy decision to step back,” Stead said.

“A batsman’s front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done.

“We’ve got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship final first up in May and June, and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that.”