Kane Williamson

With his century in the second Test against Sri Lanka, Kane Williamson became the leading run scorer by a New Zealander in a calendar year, breaking the previous record held by Brendan McCullum. He also surpassed McCullum for most hundreds in a year.

There have been 142 instances of batsman scoring 1000+ Test runs in a calendar year. This year, Kane Williamson has scored 1172 in just 16 innings at an average of 90.15. That average is 7th best all time among batsman scoring 1000+ Test runs in a year.

Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Steve Smith and David Warner have all scored 1000+ Test runs this year, but have done so in a minimum of 6+ innings more and none have an average greater than 63.50.

Is he ranked number 1 test batsman as yet?  He deserves to be!

Yes, he now deservedly sits atop to the ICC Test rankings.

What a player and a joy to watch. He is much improved and wish him the best as Captain, hoping this additional responsibility does not affect his batting.

Such a deceptively precise timer of the cricket ball......oh what joy. The first time I saw elegant timing was from Majid Khan....

Congratulations on a splendid year.

It was so easy to predict his future as a Debutant  !

Calypso , ably assisted by moi , targeted him as a future # 1   

I may be slightly biased but I'd still say that Root as the edge on Williamson at the moment although I'd agree it is a close call between the two, as the official rankings show.

It was discussed previously, but choosing between Williamson, Smith and Root is splitting hairs. The trio will likely forever be linked together. Just from a raw numbers standpoint, over the last three-years, Kane's overall numbers are marginally the best of the three.

As for Root vs Williamson. Over the last three years, Kane has a slightly higher overall average and a much higher average in overseas Test matches. Kane has scored just 79 fewer runs than Root, but batted 10 fewer times. Kane also has more centuries under his belt. It is extremely close, but Kane is deserving of the number 1 spot in the world.

I do not really see Smith in their class but by jove he has been effective.

Of course I would obviously opt for Root but from acricketing view point Kane and Root are quite closely matched in terms of temperament and technique.

Not a great fan of Smith's technique but he is currently at the top of his game. I sincerely hope injuries do not curtail his career as once back problems are evident, like with Root, it is an absolute bugger to shift.