Persistent elbow injury frustrates Williamson

‘‘There’s been a lot of improvement over the last three months.’’

Kane Williamson says his ongoing elbow injury ‘‘definitely improved’’ when he took a two-month break from cricket after the Black Caps’ World Test Championship final win over India in England at the end of June.

But on the eve of his return to international action at the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, he is still managing an issue that has ‘‘been quite frustrating for a long period of time’’.

The injury, a small tear in his left elbow tendon, first emerged in February, when he cut short a return to domestic cricket with Northern

Districts in order to manage it ahead of a visit by Australia for five T20 internationals.

After that series, won 3-2 by the Black Caps, he was ruled out of the rest of the New Zealand summer, with NZ Cricket medical manager Dayle Shackel confirming in a statement that he had been managing the injury ‘‘to varying degrees this summer, and unfortunately it hasn’t improved.’’

He returned to play in the Indian Premier League in April and featured in the Black Caps’ first test against England in June, but was rested for the second – a famous win at Edgbaston – to ensure he was good to go for the WTC final.

After New Zealand claimed their first world title in that match in Southampton, he confirmed he would be taking a break from cricket and withdrew from The Hundred,

England’s new 100-ball domestic competition which was held for the first time in July and August.

He has been back playing in the IPL, which was paused in May due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in India, but resumed in the UAE last month and culminates in a final this weekend, and is now with the Black Caps, who begin their T20 World Cup campaign on October 26 [3am October 27 NZ time] against Pakistan.

There was also a minor hamstring injury for Williamson at the end of the IPL, but he was more worried about his elbow when he spoke to New Zealand media this week though he felt neither would keep him out of the World Cup.

He said the elbow injury caused him issues when gripping his bat and extending his front arm while playing shots.

‘‘It’s been frustrating, certainly when it was at its worse. Just the harder you grip and the further you extend, it seems to be quite disruptive.

‘‘There’s been a lot of improvement over the last three months, which is good.

‘‘It’s really been a focus and I’m now at a stage where I’m largely able to get through with some comfort.

‘‘It’s nice to be able to focus a bit more on the cricketing side of things, rather than having constant negotiations with physios.’’