Sean Williams stands tall among T20 greats

 Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter 

Playing sport at the highest level is one thing and keeping at the same level for the longest of times is another thing. Many sports persons come and go, others become inconsistent and get dropped. Others succumb to the pressures that come with playing at the highest level, but that is not the story of Sean Williams. 

The T20 World Cup is starting soon and many are focused, maybe on Virat Kohli returning back to scoring centuries while others will be talking about Pakistan’s stalwart Babar Azam who had a poor run in the Asia Cup, but little notice is being given to Zimbabwe’s very own who is about to make history of his own. 

Longevity and consistency are two things that will always be praised in sport, the two things that are very important if you want to be one of the greats and Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams ticks all the boxes. 

The 35-year-old all-rounder played in the first ever T20 World Cup in South Africa 2007 and in next month’s edition, he will be one of the remaining players who were there when the game’s shortest format had its first World Cup. The players number four and the other three are India’s captain Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hassan. 

All the other participants in the inaugural World Cup have either retired from the game or have hung up their bats in the shortest format only and continued playing other formats. 

Despite not playing a single match in the inaugural World Cup, Sean Williams, who made his debut in 2006 was in the Zimbabwean team that pulled an upset when they beat Australia. He has been going strong ever since. 

Termed as one of the best reverse sweep players the country has ever produced after current Chevrons head coach Dave Houghton and legend Andy Flower, the left hander has 58 T20 international matches under his name to date. 

Sean Williams also boasts the sixth longest T20 career in the history of the game, spanning 15 years and can rocket to the top two of the list should he continue playing alongside Shakib Al Hassan. He has nine half centuries to his name and recently crossed the 1000 T20 runs mark. 

With a batting average of 24,50, the allrounder has a career best of 66 runs and total of 1274 runs and also has taken 38 wickets, recording the best bowling figures of 3-15 at an average of 29,65.

The all-rounder, who played a crucial part in Zimbabwe’s qualification for the T20 World Cup, will also be key for the Chevrons as they aim to make it out of their group and book a place in the Super 12 of the global showpiece. 

The Chevrons, who failed to qualify for the last edition of the T20 World Cup due to suspension after the cricket governing body ICC deemed that the Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC)’s decision to fire the Tavengwa Mkhuhlani led Zimbabwe Cricket board amounted to a violation of the world governing body’s statutes, are in group B alongside Ireland, Scotland and the West Indies. 

The World Cup is starting on 16 October in Australia. 

Article Source: The Chronicle