Will Williams

Will Williams is a dual Passport (UK/NZ) holding seamer who has made waves in New Zealand domestic cricket in recent years. The right-arm seamer has been Canterbury’s stand-out performer, including a record-breaking T20 5-for and hattrick.

In 2019/20, his exploits saw him sweep the awards, taking out Men’s “Player of the Year”, “Player’s Player”, and “Bowler of the Year”. Last summer, the trend continued, winning the “Bowler of the Year”, and was nominated for New Zealand’s domestic “Player of the Year”.

Williams was an integral part of Canterbury’s Plunket Shield (first-class), and Ford Trophy (List A) titles, topping both competition wicket-charts (31 wickets at 17.03, and 20 wickets at 18.05).

In January 2020, Williams became the first Canterbury player to take a T20 hattrick, amongst figures of 5-12 from only 2 overs (the fewest balls to claim a 5-wicket haul in T20 history). 9 months later, he bagged his maiden Plunket Shield 5-for, taking out 4 of the top 5 Wellington batsmen, including Blackcaps players Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, and Michael Bracewell, on his way to figures of 5-58 (26). A week later, he eclipsed these figures, taking 5-26 (18) against the Northern Knights, adding a further three kiwi players to his wicket-list, namely BJ Watling, Scott Kuggeleijn, and Ish Sodhi.

Williams would go on to top the Plunket Shield wicket charts, helping Canterbury to the title. However, alongside his potency, he proved to be one of the more difficult bowlers to get away with, with a tournament economy of 1.98. This was highlighted in a match against Central Districts, going for 27 runs from 36 overs across both innings at McLean Park in Napier.

The seamer has really hit his straps in recent years, following his debut almost a decade ago (November 2012). Study, alongside a spate of injuries, hampered the initial part of his cricket career, but over the past few seasons, he’s become a key member of the successful Canterbury side. Last summer, he continued to excel, particularly in red-ball cricket finishing fourth on the Plunket Shield wicket charts with 21 poles at 21.52.

With 167 wickets at 25 across the three formats, Williams is one of the most prolific seamers in New Zealand cricket.

Courtesy of his domestic exploits, the Canterbury seamer was picked up by Lancashire for 2 County Championship matches in June 2022. It was his second stint in the UK, albeit first in County cricket following season with Bridgwater (West of England Premier League) in 2017 (23 wickets at 17.38) and 2022.

Moving forward, the Pilot-by-trade is keen to lock in a full County contract for the 2023 season and beyond.

Check out the following link for more details about Will Williams via TVNZ.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/cricket/meet-canterbury-seamer-nicknamed-crickets-mccaw-whose-bowling-career-taking-off