The Fab Four had giants. Kane Williamson is the one everyone loved
The term did not originate in the boardroom or in the broadcaster’s green room. It came from a dying man who loved the game so much he wanted to name its future. In 2014, the late Martin Crowe looked at four young men, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, and coined the phrase “Fab Four”, predicting that the “real battle” for supremacy was yet to come. He was right. Perhaps he could not have foreseen that when the youngest of them retired, the loudest lament would not be for his hundreds, averages or trophies. It would be for the rarest thing elite sport has ever produced: a great player that no one seems to be able to love.
Kane Williamson has announced his retirement from international cricket on Friday, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning more than 15 years and 19,346 international runs. The numbers are staggering and deserve their own reckoning. He averaged 54.68 in Tests, scored 33 centuries in 108 matches and won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2015. In the inaugural 2021 Test World Cup final, he led from the front with a patient 49 and an unbeaten 52 as New Zealand beat India by eight wickets, an ICC first in two decades. The statistics are there. They are real. But it’s not about you.
The point is this: of the four men who shaped the modern Test era, only one of them will go uncriticised. Williamson has always avoided going too high or too low in his emotions, preferring instead to blend into the heart of the team’s culture. In a sport that has industrialized controversy, that makes headlines out of egos and fringes, from press conference provocations and stump eruptions, Williamson simply refused to take part. Not because he lacked fire. But because he never confused fire with theater.
WHEN THE WRITERS BECAME HIS FANS
The ultimate proof of this was not victory, but the cruelest possible defeat. The 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s remains one of cricket’s most talked about afternoons. When the Super Over failed to separate England and New Zealand, the trophy was awarded on the basis of the number of boundaries, a rule so mysterious and so brutally arbitrary that it sparked widespread fury from players, pundits and former captains across the cricketing world.
Journalists were quiet at the press conference. They found none. “At the end of the day nothing separated us, nobody lost the final but there was a crowned winner and there it is.” Williamson told reporters.
Touching on the rule itself, he said: “The rules are there, I think, and certainly something you don’t think about going into the match, having that extra boundary if there were two tied tries to win. I don’t think England thought about that either.”
The press conference that was supposed to dissect the final ended with the man who lost it celebrating.
A journalist asked him, “Do you think every cricketer in the competition should be a gentleman like you?”
“Everyone is allowed to be themselves. That’s a good thing in the world. And everyone should be a little bit different too. Really hard question to answer. That’s probably my best answer, be yourself and try to enjoy what you’re doing,” Williamson replied.
When the press conference ended, the assembled journalists stood and gave him a spontaneous ovation. As a rule, reporters are not sentimental people.
It was this rare, gentle stoicism that made him universally adored, much like fans’ fondness for his penchant for making barista-level coffee and his deeply documented affection for his pets.
“Kane is all about the little things,” his former New Zealand team-mate Jeetan Patel once told Wisden.
“He loves his dog, he loves his partner, he loves going home and kicking balls with his old man. He’s literally just another guy who loves playing cricket.”
In context, it reads like an understatement so severe that it goes back to the most accurate thing anyone has ever said about him. The man who averaged over 50 in Test cricket over 16 years was first and foremost a guy who just wanted to play cricket.
When Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket in 2025, Williamson posted a tribute on Instagram, warm, generous, completely without calculation.
“Congratulations brother. The numbers are there for all to see, but your influence goes far beyond that… kudos to you for expressing your authentic self from start to finish.”
Brief. Candid. Nothing more than was needed. That’s how it’s always been with Williamson, at press conferences, in interviews, at the crease. There was grace in the way he spoke, never a word beyond what was required. Sometimes it was, frankly, boring. But he was never there to have fun with his mouth. He was there to bat. Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli admired each other’s success (Photo Reuters)
GREAT DOUGH TOO!
And the bat did. A point-back shot so delicately timed that it looked almost apologetic. The cut blasted off the back foot, unhurried, inevitable. Direct drive, textbook correct and twice as beautiful. Not one shot in the entire canon was fired in anger. He may not sit at the top of the all-time list, partly because he has never sought it, partly because New Zealand’s shadow is shorter than England’s, India’s or Australia’s in the big reckoning of the game. But he averaged close to 50 in Tests and ODIs, led IPL teams to finals and never once commented on anything. The case will quietly create itself.
In a tribute released after announcing his retirement, New Zealand coach Rob Walter said Williamson’s influence extended far beyond statistics and results: “His influence on the culture and standards of this team will remain embedded in his DNA. An incredible player, a wonderful teammate, a wonderful leader and a fantastic ambassador for our sport.”
Williamson said in his own statement: “I’ve always felt a strong desire and hunger for international cricket and I’m proud to know that I’ve given it my all in every match I’ve played for New Zealand. To continue with anything less would not be right and I feel fortunate to have stepped down on my own terms.”
No farewell tour. No grievance was left unresolved, no press conference was personal, no opponent left with a grudge. He arrived quietly from a seaside town called Tauranga, racked up 19,346 international runs, won a Test World Cup, got on the brink of a World Cup and then, characteristically, decided it was just time. Friends to all. He never let his guard down.
Between the Fab Four, they rewrote the record books of an era. However, there is one entry that appears next to a single name: universally, unconditionally loved.
Kane Williamson will remember something that never counted.
– The end
Published on:
12 Jun 2026 17:52 IST