He has decided to miss the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies to focus on the three-test series in December, retiring as New Zealand’s second-highest men’s T20 scorer with 2575 runs at an average of 33, including 18 half-centuries and a high score of 95.
"It’s something that I’ve loved being a part of for a long period of time and I’m so grateful for the memories and experiences," Williamson said.
"It’s the right time for myself and the team. It gives the team clarity for the series moving forward and ahead of their next major focus, which is the T20 World Cup.
"There is so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup.
"Mitch [current New Zealand white ball captain, Mitchell Santner] is a brilliant captain and leader — he’s really come into his own with this team.
"It is now their time to push the Black Caps forward in this format and I’ll be supporting from afar."
Williamson made his T20 debut in 2011 and captained New Zealand on 75 occasions in the format, leading them to two T20 World Cup semifinals (2016 and 2022) and a final (2021).
He said he was open-minded about his ODI and test futures, and his immediate focus was preparing for the three-test series against the West Indies, which starts in Christchurch on December 2.
"I have got such deep care for this team," he said.
"I’ll continue to keep the lines of communication open with Rob [New Zealand coach Rob Walter] and NZC [New Zealand Cricket], who have given me a huge amount of support throughout," he said.
NZC chief executive Scott Weenink said Williamson had earned the right to decide how he finished his ODI and test careers.
"We’ve made it clear to Kane he has our full support as he reaches the back end of his illustrious career," he said.
"We would, of course, love to see him play for as long as possible, but there is no doubt whenever he does decide to finally call time he will go down as a legend of New Zealand cricket."
Williamson’s next game will likely be for Northern Districts in their Plunket Shield second round clash against Auckland at Bay Oval in Tauranga, starting on Wednesday, November 26.
He will continue to play T20 franchise cricket.
— Kyle Jamieson and Ish Sodhi have returned to the Black Caps or their upcoming T20I series against the West Indies, which starts on Wednesday night at Eden Park in Auckland.
All-rounder Nathan Smith has also been included in the 14-strong squad and could be in line make his T20I debut.
Jamieson returns from the side injury that ruled him out of the ODI series against England, while Sodhi is back in the T20I squad after featuring against Australia in early October
— RNZ/Allied Media
