New Zealand last won a Test series in England in 2021. What are you looking forward to in this series?
It is always exciting heading to England. We have a really decent squad. We have been playing some decent cricket of late, even though it's a limited amount of Test cricket that we have played over the last 12 months.
The series that we played at home [beating West Indies 2-0] this summer was really positive. We had a lot of new guys come into the squad, with a lot of injuries, but guys stepped up at different times. We have managed to create a lot of depth in our squad. Hopefully we can get everyone on the park and firing and have a full squad to pick from.
You played county cricket last season with Warwickshire and have had previous stints with Surrey, Kent and Durham. In what way does the county experience help when you tour the country with New Zealand?
I think just being exposed to those conditions as much as possible. Anywhere you go around the world, having experience in those conditions is beneficial to lean back on. Whether it be coming to the subcontinent, playing on wickets that are slightly different, or going to Australia or England. Being in those positions and playing on those surfaces is only a benefit.
That was one of the reasons to head over there last year - to gain a little bit more experience in those conditions. Try and understand the way you need to play on those surfaces that are different to what we have back home. Even though it's county cricket, we will certainly be leaning back on the experiences of the Test matches we have played there in the past.
We are fortunate to have played England a lot in Test cricket over the last four years, which is great. It's going to be a really exciting series. It's obviously their first series post the Ashes [defeat]. They'll be excited to get back into Test cricket.
You made three centuries and totalled 427 runs against West Indies at home in December, and are one of a handful of New Zealand batters to have twice scored 400-plus runs in bilateral series. Do you keep track of your own record? Are you a stats nut?
No, not at all. They are not necessarily the reasons I play the game. It's more around trying to do my role as best I can for the team. Along the way there's a few milestones that you might pick up if things do go well. It's obviously nice that in the series [against West Indies], I was able to find a rhythm and tempo. It's been a while since I have made those significant contributions.
It was nice to put myself in those positions, but also spend a lot of time at the crease with Dev [Conway, who made a double-hundred in Mount Maunganui], which was really special for both of us. Any time you look back on games, you certainly look back on that game with a lot of fond memories.
From batting with Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, what's been different about batting with the next generation of New Zealand talent, like Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Conway?
When I first made the team [in 2014], to play with the likes of those guys that you have grown up watching on TV was really special. They have different characteristics and different ways that they approach things. You are always trying to learn in terms of taking things that they do as players. You find a style that works for you. I have managed to do that over a long period of time.
Certainly looking at the guys that are now on the team, Kane, Rachin and Daryl - guys that play all three formats are able to change their games and adapt to whatever conditions or formats being played.
You are always trying to take tips from other guys around how they do things. We are very fortunate in the group we have. We spend a lot of time together, chat about cricket. We are just trying to find ways to improve day in, day out. That's something we speak about a lot as a group. I am still trying to do that today.
In 2024, you led New Zealand to a famous whitewash of India in India, including bowling them out for 46. What impact has that 3-0 win had on you?
It was obviously an amazing series. I remember the coach at the time, Gary Stead, said: "Do you think we should bowl first [in Bengaluru]?" Just because the wicket had been under covers for two or three days leading up to the game. I said I can't be the first captain to come and win the toss and bowl in India!
Fortunately, we were bowling first anyway [after losing the toss]. I think the way that the guys set the tone in that series was really impressive - bowling India out for 40-odd. But, for me, it wasn't necessarily the results.
We had been there many times before and hadn't had a lot of success. It was about going there and taking the game on, playing the game slightly differently - I think we managed to do that. To me, that was the most pleasing thing. Obviously, a really memorable series. One that I think everyone in that squad, support staff included, will look back on. When you finish playing, you'll understand what a significant series it was. Obviously, being able to create a little bit of history was pretty cool along the way.
How special was the win in Pune, where you scored a second-innings 86 and Mitchell Santner took 13 wickets?
The way Rachin played was truly tremendous. The way Will Young played as well, throughout that series, was something that he'll look back on, in terms of the contributions he made on some really tricky surfaces.
For me, it was really pleasing for Mitch Santner - someone who had played quite a bit of Test cricket. We all know the potential he has. For him to then deliver a performance like that in a really important game was awesome. I think he bowled pretty much the whole of that second innings [48.3 overs] with a little bit of a side strain. It was pretty amazing to see the guys that were on their first or second Test tour of India to put some performances like that on the board.
You had already won the series when you headed to Mumbai for the final Test. In such cases, how does the captain make sure the players remain motivated to go for the series sweep?
I don't think the guys needed too much motivation in terms of where we sat in that series. For us, whether you are 1-0 up or 1-0 down, it's all about trying to perform as best you can and play our brand of cricket as best we can.
We were fortunate to have won the toss, which made a massive difference in those conditions. I think India were chasing about 150 [147] in that last innings, and we knew if we bowled well, it was going to be tricky for them to get that score. We certainly bowled really well. I think the motivation factor certainly wasn't needed. The guys were playing some really good cricket up until that point. We just wanted to keep continuing the momentum we'd built up and we managed to do that in the last Test as well.
What's the secret to New Zealand doing so well on the world stage and regularly playing World Cup semi-finals and finals?
I'm not too sure. Even though we have a small pool of players, I think the depth and the standard of domestic cricket back home is high. Pretty much everyone that plays domestic cricket back home has that ambition to play for New Zealand. You look at some guys in terms of how things have happened, either really quickly or if it's happened late in their career. There's always that opportunity to represent New Zealand.
Whether it be at a point like this when we have a lot of guys playing overseas in different leagues around the world when there's still international cricket going on - there's always that opportunity to play for New Zealand. I think that allows guys, while playing domestic cricket, to keep getting better, to keep trying to push their standards as high as possible.
When they do get an opportunity, whether it be when they are a little bit younger or a little bit older, that ambition is there to represent New Zealand. To perform well for the team and come into an environment and add some value to what we have created off the field as a culture.
We talk about having care for our environment and to keep putting things into the team rather than taking away. I think that's a base we like to have as a group to keep pushing the team forward. Not necessarily just on the field, but off the field as well. It's a really fun environment to be in. We have had a lot of different faces over the last 12 months but everyone's added as much as they can to what we are trying to do, which is an important thing.
You bat at No. 5 in ODIs and open in Tests. How do you change your mindset between formats?
It has always been about adapting to conditions, oppositions, teams, surfaces, whatever it may be. Whether it be at the top of the order or in the middle order, nothing really changes. I am just trying to play the game that's in front of us as much as we can rather than trying to get too caught up in myself.
You are one century away from equalling Martin Crowe's 17 Test hundreds for New Zealand. What would it mean to equal him and then go past him? Was he a hero growing up?
He was probably a little before my time, but obviously one of New Zealand's greatest batters. I certainly remember the time when Ross [Taylor] overtook him [in Wellington in 2019. It was obviously a really significant moment in New Zealand cricket history for him to overtake Martin, who was one of Ross' mentors and idols growing up. I know how much it meant to him to go past Martin.
Now that I'm potentially in that position, it doesn't seem as much of a milestone. But I know it would be really special to go past him. Martin Crowe is one of New Zealand cricket's greatest ever players. There's obviously a lot of water to go under the bridge to get to that point. But I will always bring it back to what's important for me and what's important for the team is doing my role as best as I can.
I'm obviously fortunate to have played with Ross, Kane, guys that have gone past him. Those guys certainly set the benchmark in terms of the standard. They keep pushing boundaries in terms of records and where they sit now. I'm just trying to keep doing my thing as best as I can. If those milestones come along, it'll be really cool and we will celebrate it at the time.
After England, you have a big southern summer ahead of you: playing Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to round off the World Test Championship cycle. How are you preparing for all the contests ahead?
For us, it's about playing our brand of cricket as best we can and giving ourselves a chance to win Tests. We obviously know the challenge that we are going to be faced with, with England and Australia in their conditions, and India and Sri Lanka at home. I think we have a really good squad for the next 12-18 months of Test cricket. It's a really exciting time for our team because we don't necessarily play this amount of Test cricket in such a small space of time. We know it's going to be a challenge. I know everyone involved will be really looking forward to the challenge.
What's it been like to play Test cricket in a tournament-like format? Do you expect more new players to take up the game and take New Zealand cricket into the future?
I think the World Test Championship has been a great initiative for Test cricket. The context that it's put on every game, every series around the world, rather than it being just a bilateral series that doesn't necessarily count to anything. The significance that each Test has on a series, whether you have lost a series and you've still got one game to go - every game means something. You are obviously striving towards that end goal of winning the World Test Championship. It'll obviously be a really special thing for New Zealand to win it again [having won it in 2021].
