New Zealand have called up Will Young for the final two Tests against England, stepping in for Kane Williamson after the former captain’s decision to end his international career on Friday.
Young, 33, is expected in London on Sunday, 14 June and will train with the squad from Monday. The second Test at The Oval starts on 17 June, with the tourists trailing 1–0 after a 115-run loss at Lord’s.
It will be the right-hander’s first Test outing since December’s match against West Indies in Christchurch. Across 23 Tests he has scored 1,215 runs at 31.97, steady numbers rather than spectacular. His most recent international cricket came in Bangladesh’s ODI series, where scores of 30, 2 and 19 hardly screamed for selection.
Selector Gavin Larsen said in a brief NZC release: “Will knows our environment and can cover several spots in the top order, which is handy in English conditions.”
Henry Nicholls was the other obvious option. He topped last season’s Plunket Shield with 870 runs in seven games at an extraordinary 96.66, while Young managed only 119 at 14.87. Even so, head coach Gary Stead added: “We felt continuity was important. Will has been part of our planning for this tour for some time.”
Williamson departs with 8,125 Test runs and a calm presence that cannot simply be replaced. Captain Tom Latham acknowledged as much, noting, “You don’t fill Kane’s shoes overnight; we’ll share the responsibility across the batting group.”
The three-match series finishes at Headingley from 25 June, New Zealand needing back-to-back wins to keep their World Test Championship ambitions alive.
